hardest. gaining access to micro - prudential supervisory data relating to individual institutions collected by the fsa has proved invaluable in assessing the resilience of the banking system and thus its ability to supply the credit to support the recovery. one area where more information would be useful is on the activities of the shadow banking sector. almost inevitably, one has less knowledge of these institutions than of regulated entities. but we have seen that serious problems can arise in such hidden corners of the financial sector. high - quality flow of funds data, similar to that available in the united states, would also be valuable. that would facilitate a better understanding of the factors influencing changes in agents ’ balance sheets, and thus be valuable in the pursuit of both monetary and financial stability. cross - sectional information on balance sheets within the household and business sectors could also be useful in evaluating the seriousness of financial strains. finally, i think it is worth noting that if so - called macro - prudential policies are to be used successfully to improve the resilience of the financial system and to moderate the credit cycle, financial data collection will need to be more flexible in future. almost certainly the seeds of the next financial crisis will sprout in a different corner of the financial system from this one. collecting data dedicated to helping fight the last war will not serve, if those emerging risks are to be identified early and dealt with appropriately. thank you.

( such as visa ) and european institutions in order for serbia to come closer to the european level of interchange for all banking cards issued in the country. as always, we believe that the serbian chamber of commerce provides an optimal framework for the discussion between banks and merchants on this highly topical issue in europe and worldwide. the performances of the payment cards market ( 31 may 2008 ) are as follows : • number of transactions performed in serbia over the past 12 months – close to 90 million • number of pos terminals – 60, 000 thousand • number of atms – over 2, 200 • number of payments by mobile phone in the dinacard system in may – 100, 000 however, we will not let these results lull us into satisfaction ; to the contrary, they will only serve to encourage us to work more, with increased efficiency, in the following key directions : payment card charges : it will not be an overstatement to say that payment card charges are excessive and out of proportion to the actual operational costs. i am sure than many merchants would use payment cards much more readily if this form of payment did not lower their turnover by up to 3 %. and i hope we all know what 3 % means in the 21st century! payment cards, rather than being an objective in themselves, represent a means to having a more efficient banking / payment / tax ( money laundering, declaration of income ) system. the present level of margins, however, does not promote the achievement of this objective over the medium and still less over the long run. and so we arrive at the typical dilemma for banks and card systems : to keep the margins at their current level and only slowly increase the volume of transactions ; or to slash margins, inducing a super - proportional increase in turnover, which would eventually bring even higher profits than in the first scenario. the nbs will work on promoting the latter alternative as the most beneficial for all participants – and we cannot spare any more time. mobile telephony has come to play an increasingly important role in the payment system, both when it comes to local payments and to foreign remittances. by mid - 2008, there were around 9 million mobile phones registered in serbia, each of which is a potential “ payment card ”. let me remind you that the sole objective of the nbs regarding the payment system is clearly defined by the law : “ the nbs shall regulate and upgrade the payment system of the country, supervise the performance of payment transactions in banks, etc.