together more than 30 central banks and supervisory authorities. the aims of this network include analysis of supervisory practices, of macroeconomic and financial risks, and the means for smoothing financing for the transition to a sustainable economy. undeniably, the implementation of all these aspects with some degree of harmonisation will be a difficult task. but you will agree with me that we are all facing a fundamental challenge and that, as such, we must spare no effort. allow me to refer briefly also to the role financial markets can play in this process of ecological transition. in capital markets we have seen some positive discrimination in the valuation of firms with a lower degree of exposure to climate change, albeit limitedly so. logically, and as in the case of banks, the markets should act as a catalyst for change 4 / 5 towards certain sustainable activities, while discouraging investment in particularly polluting industries. evidently, the attractiveness for investors of issues of green bonds is a sign of the growing concern over the effects of climate change. yet for the aforementioned transmission mechanisms to work properly, the volume of securities traded on these markets must reach a critical mass and be consistently catalogued. to achieve this, the initiatives developed within the european commission are essential : these include most notably the taxonomy for determining the activities that contribute to sustainability in environmental terms, and the “ ecological ” labelling of financial products. we need a common language that can be used both by debt issuers and potential investors, so that these markets may be developed. on this point of financial investments categorised as “ green ”, it is worth recalling that we as central banks are also active investors in financial markets, both in monetary policy operations and in portfolio management relating to reserves. in this connection, as acknowledged in the report by the network of central banks and supervisors, and as recently indicated by mario draghi, we are aware that environmental risks are not yet being built into most of this portfolio ’ s ratings, whether internal or devised by rating agencies. accordingly, in the eurosystem, a thorough review of these risk valuation processes is under way. the aim is to ensure us that all the relevant factors, including environmental ones, for the prudent management of the portfolio held by the central banks are being taken into account. in addition, i should point out that, like the ecb, we resolutely support the initiative recently launched by the european securities markets authority ( esma ). as the regulator of rating agencies,

21. 03. 2019 closing remarks event on the “ impact of the new law on real estate credit ” / pwc margarita delgado deputy governor good afternoon, i would like to thank pwc for kindly inviting me to speak at the close of today ’ s event on the new real estate credit law. i shall try to speak about the most innovative features of the new law from the supervisor ’ s standpoint, not dwelling too long on the details of the legal changes introduced, as i am sure that they have been widely discussed over the course of the morning. specifically, i shall focus on the three features of the new law that strike me as particularly important from a supervisory viewpoint : ( i ) the emphasis given to customer protection, ( ii ) the need to ensure legal certainty for the mortgage market to function properly and ( iii ) the growing importance of credit conditions. i shall also refer to the potential short and mediumterm consequences of this law for access to owner - occupied housing, and shall conclude with some thoughts on how the new macroprudential tools may shape the way we supervise certain banking businesses, notably real estate lending. introduction as we know only too well, access to home ownership is an issue of great concern to spanish society. worldwide, spain has traditionally been among the countries with the highest owner - occupancy rates. although this rate has declined from the peak reached in 2002, it is still higher than in other european countries. obviously, i am not going to analyse here our cultural preference for home ownership, although i will say that, in my opinion, there are both positive and negative aspects to this. on the positive side, ownership affords households greater stability and financial security 3 / 15 for retirement. as a matter of fact, our home often represents the main part of our “ savings ” when the time comes for us to retire. evidently, this tendency also has a less positive side. for instance, it is an obstacle to personal and professional mobility at different stages of life and reduces the proportion of savings we hold in the form of financial products. at any rate, buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions in a person ’ s life and, in many cases, our biggest investment, which normally requires financing and means entering into a long - term payment commitment with a lending institution. as the financial crisis has painfully reminded us, this long - term commitment is a potential source of problems at times of financial instability or job insecurity. let