already in october 2010, some months ahead of what had been shown by the figures available in the previous version of the statistics. second, we now have detailed quarterly data on the balance sheet of insurance corporations and pension funds. currently, their assets account for about one third of all assets of non - bank financial intermediaries within the euro area. that is of course already a sizeable figure, but in view of our ageing societies, those institutions can be expected to be of further increasing significance for the economy and the entire financial system. already today, insurance and pension fund technical reserves, which represent the claims that households have vis - a - vis life insurance companies and pension plans ( other than social insurance schemes ), account for around 30 % of households ’ total financial wealth. these new data therefore are important not only for the ecb, but will be highly relevant for many other uses. furthermore, as institutional investors with a significant portfolio in securities, insurance corporations and pension funds will be monitored for monetary policy and financial stability purposes. in view of the desirable further development of these statistics, we have started a close cooperation with the european insurance and occupational pensions authority ( eiopa ). this should help to further improve the statistics, while minimising the costs for the industry through the compilation of aggregated data based on supervisory returns. third, the improved interest rate statistics allow a deeper analysis of the transmission channels of monetary policy. one specific improvement sheds more light on how the external financing conditions of small and medium - sized non - financial enterprises compare with those of large corporations. this is particularly relevant for the euro area, given its rather more bank - based funding system as compared with the more market - based funding system in the united states. for example, figures on interest rates for new loans to non - financial corporations show that interest rates on new loans of up to €250, 000 have indeed been far higher than interest rates on loans of over €1 million. on average, they were more than 140 basis points higher for small and medium - sized enterprises and 90 basis points higher for sole proprietors. this is important information which enhances our analysis of the financing conditions as these rates serve as a proxy for loans to small and medium - sized enterprises, as well as to “ sole proprietors ” ( e. g. doctors or architects ). overall, i am pleased to see that these new developments and the new datasets in the euro area monetary and financial statistics keep them fit

proposal for a corporate sustainability reporting directive comes in. the ecb welcomed this proposed directive in a legal opinion and it is now awaiting approval by the co - legislators. the current standards on sustainability disclosure are insufficient to ensure that sustainabilityrelated financial risks are properly understood and priced by market participants. the proposed corporate sustainability reporting directive is a necessary step to address the gaps that currently hinder the development of appropriate sustainability policy, risk assessment and risk monitoring frameworks for the financial sector. this is because it will not only explicitly ask large banks to disclose their transition plans, it will also ask banks ’ corporate clients to do the same. this last point is crucial, as it will enable banks to assess the climate - related and environmental risks in their asset portfolios. these disclosures are therefore an important element in ensuring that banks manage all material risks, in line with what we as the prudential supervisor expect them to do. the climate - and - environmental puzzle is still highly complicated, but we can now see the pieces slotting into place. against this backdrop, it is crucial that the elements included in the commission ’ s proposals are implemented in actual binding legislation entering into force without 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches undue delay. this will smooth the path to paris for all. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches