to give any credibility to a scenario that we consider unacceptable. however, there was full, total, and transparent disclosure of exposures to sovereigns for each in individual bank. everybody is free bis central bankers ’ speeches to make their own assumptions and calculations. with knowledge of the exposure, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out some scenarios. it turns out that such calculations would produce very reassuring numbers. but, for some reasons, they never were publically made by most analysts. just as an illustration, the total exposure of french banks to sovereign debt in the southern part of europe is 38 % of total tier one ( 13 % without italy ). i ’ ll let you make your own conclusions. even in an apocalyptic scenario, only a small fraction of french banks tier one ratio would be compromised. the same results apply, with some variations, to other countries. conclusion let me know conclude. like all other major advanced economies, the euro area is facing big challenges in adjusting to the post - crisis environment. for all, those challenges relate to long term fiscal sustainability. they are neither bigger nor smaller for the euro area than for the us, uk or japan. they may be more complicated to solve because, by nature, our governance is more complex and we face specific collective action problems. it may take us longer to deal with difficulties as they appear, and we are paying a price for this relative inertia. but problems are being tackled, reforms are being implemented and i am convinced that, at the end, the euro area will emerge as a stronger and more robust entity than before the crisis. as for the european system of central banks, i can assure you that we stand ready to act as forcefully as necessary to ensure price stability and preserve the integrity of the euro, which is, today, our most precious common good. bis central bankers ’ speeches

christian noyer : lessons from the crisis. a central banker ’ s reflections on some accounting policy issues speech by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france, at the european meeting of the accounting profession, paris, 11 december 2008. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to be taking part in this european meeting of the accounting profession. this discussion seems to me to be especially timely since the current crisis has raised a whole series of questions related more or less closely to accounting policy. it is no coincidence that the latest banque de france financial stability review is devoted to issues of valuation. i am convinced that the crisis will force us to carry out an in - depth assessment of the concepts and tools relating to valuation. i am not an accountant. the point of view i am putting forward today is that of a central banker who is responsible in particular for financial stability. with this perspective in mind, i propose that together we take a look at three topics. • an overview of the crisis from the point of view of valuation • the issue of the neutrality of accounting conventions • the consistency of rules and practices with regard to valuation financial crisis, a crisis of valuation in many respects, the current crisis is about valuation. to be sure, the factors underlying and accounting for the crisis are numerous. however, one of its significant features is that the uncertainty surrounding the “ true ” value of complex financial instruments has undermined the confidence of global markets, increased uncertainty about counterparty risk and led to contagion across asset classes, financial markets and economic regions. the crisis has highlighted the fact that the valuation of financial instruments is not only a question of accounting. it raises issues about risk measurement and management by financial institutions, prudential issues via the definition of capital requirements and, more widely, financial stability issues. however, valuation is also without any doubt an accounting issue. it is therefore hardly surprising that the debate about the application of accounting standards to financial instruments is a highly topical one. i think it interesting to note that the crisis has occurred in a financial system that has seen two far - reaching developments. i am referring first of all to the rapid growth in securitisation and products whose valuation is complex. i will not dwell on this aspect as it is not the subject of today ’ s meeting. the aspect i would like to focus on is the transition to the “ fair value ” accounting of financial instruments. the rationale behind this accounting development is understandable and can be