jean - claude trichet : ecb press conference – introductory statement introductory statement by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank and mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, frankfurt am main, 4 august 2011. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the vice - president and i are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. we will report on the outcome of today ’ s meeting of the governing council, which was also attended by commissioner rehn. based on its regular economic and monetary analyses, the governing council decided to keep the key ecb interest rates unchanged, following the 25 basis point increase on 7 july 2011. the information that has become available since then confirms our assessment that an adjustment of the accommodative monetary policy stance was warranted in the light of upside risks to price stability. while the monetary analysis indicates that the underlying pace of monetary expansion is still moderate, monetary liquidity remains ample and may facilitate the accommodation of price pressures. as expected, recent economic data indicate a deceleration in the pace of economic growth in the past few months, following the strong growth rate in the first quarter. continued moderate expansion is expected in the period ahead. however, uncertainty is particularly high. for monetary policy, it is essential that recent price developments do not give rise to broad - based inflationary pressures. inflation expectations in the euro area must remain firmly anchored in line with our aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2 % over the medium term. such anchoring is a prerequisite for monetary policy to make an ongoing contribution towards supporting economic growth and job creation in the euro area. at the same time, short - term interest rates remain low and financing conditions are favourable. thus, our monetary policy stance remains accommodative. we will continue to monitor very closely all developments with respect to upside risks to price stability. given the renewed tensions in some financial markets in the euro area, the governing council today also decided to conduct a liquidity - providing supplementary longer - term refinancing operation ( ltro ) with a maturity of approximately six months. the operation will be conducted as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment. the rate in this operation will be fixed at the average rate of the main refinancing operations ( mros ) over the life of the supplementary ltro. the operation will be announced on 9 august 2011, with allotment on 10 august

the benefits of innovation to accrue to the system, and so for it to advance. put simply, without trust innovation doesn't progress – because it doesn't take. innovation in the digital age – the balance of benefits and risks so if financial innovation is as old as finance itself, and the need for regulation to enable, frame and underpin that innovation has been a constant, what is new about the current phase of innovation in the financial sector – and why is there a need for regulators to take a different approach? stating the obvious, the main difference is that the current phase of innovation is primarily a digital one, with innovations in the financial sector taking place in the context of widespread technological advancements in our economy. this has led to different dynamics in terms of both the nature and pace of change – resulting in a wave of new entrants, new products and new ways of serving customers. such innovation is delivering some real benefits for consumers and society ; but it doesn't come without risks. for example, new entrants provide much needed competition in the interest of consumers ; this can also improve market functioning and is essential to a dynamic system and economy. but the market only functions when its parts do ; and from our own supervisory experience there have been growing pains with some of these new entities – with business models sometimes rushing ahead of control frameworks. new products are to be welcomed, and are essential to meet evolving consumer demands. with some of these however, there are questions of suitability – not to mention utility. in the digital age rapid adoption of new products by retail consumers can also pose a challenge, in particular for products with a risk profile that may not be suited for such investors. in this regard, some crypto - assets come to mind. while there is clear potential for distributed ledger technology and tokenisation to benefit the functioning of the financial system, given the volatility of some crypto - assets there are also clear risks to consumers and retail investors – which must of course be a focus for regulators. new ways of serving customers is not only beneficial but critical to keep pace with wider developments in society ; however for these benefits to endure it is essential that they are secure and resilient. as such financial services firms must invest in digitalising their operations, processes, and offerings while also ensuring they have adequate safeguards in place to limit 2 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches potential risks. while always true, this is particularly important in a