the ratio stands below 12 %. bis central bankers ’ speeches net income for the cooperative sector as a whole in 2015 exceeded €450 million, entailing an increase of close to 15 % on 2014. the return on equity was 4. 8 %, having increased by somewhat more than 0. 5 pp in 2015. this improvement in profitability is due to the almost 60 % reduction in asset impairment losses over the past year ( practically €700 million ), the result of the reduction in npls i mentioned earlier. net interest income held relatively stable, with both revenue and financial costs having fallen, while the efficiency ratio improved by several percentage points. as regards the sector ’ s solvency, the highest quality capital ratio, namely cet1, for spanish cooperatives as a whole was 13. 7 % in december 2015, almost 70 bp up on the related december 2014 level. this gives a level of cet1 almost 1 pp higher than the aggregate for the spanish banking sector. in conclusion, the cooperative sector in spain is holding up with figures and ratios in line with those of the rest of the banking sector, and is currently evidencing solvency levels somewhat higher than those of the rest of the sector. regulatory agenda : recent developments in the basel iii capital framework i would now like to review the reforms outstanding. but i shall first offer you a brief reminder of the key elements of the new regulatory framework we know as basel iii. the global financial crisis highlighted a series of weaknesses in regulation, including most notably high bank leveraging, excessive credit growth ( boosted in part by lax lending standards ), a high degree of systemic risk and insufficient liquidity levels. the fsb and the basel committee have been developing a set of reforms involving, first, the adoption of more demanding criteria as regards the levels and quality of capital required of banks ; and, further, a reassessment of the general framework, thereby acknowledging the need to complement the solvency ratios with other measures. among these measures we may first mention the leverage ratio, which purports to be a simple, transparent and complementary metric to the risk - based capital ratio. second, given the lack of liquidity risk regulation before the crisis, the basle committee decided to adopt two new ratios : one geared to ensuring the coverage of liquidity needs in the event of tensions ( over a 30 - day period ) ; and the other aimed at achieving a financing structure suitable for the activities of each institution

by more than 80 bp over the last year, rising to 12. 6 % at end - 2015 for spanish banks as a whole, comfortably exceeding the regulatory minimum. the cooperative sector in spain let me now turn to the cooperative sector. i should begin by stressing that, although the relative weight of cooperative banks in spain is modest compared with that of commercial banks, the cooperative sector plays a significant role in financing the productive system in various industries and, therefore, in activity and employment generation. the sector ’ s total consolidated assets amounted in december 2015 to €131 billion. in comparative terms, they account for 3. 6 % of spanish deposit institutions ’ total consolidated assets. we need not recall that one of our hosts, cajamar, is a major component of the sector, accounting for slightly more than 30 % of co - operatives ’ overall assets. co - operatives are for the most part small institutions, rooted in the territory where they operate. focusing on business in spain, with individual data, the cooperative sector has more than 18, 000 employees distributed across more than 4, 300 offices. on december 2015 data, cooperatives employ more than 9 % of workers in the banking sector in spain, and they account for 14 % of the offices operating on national territory. as regards the composition of the sector ’ s balance sheet, of note on the liabilities side is the significance of private - sector deposits, equivalent to over 70 % of total assets ( almost 20 pp more than for total deposit institutions ). on the asset side, the differences with the rest of the banking sector are fewer. however, the proportion of credit to the private sector is slightly higher for the cooperative sector. the proportion of own funds for cooperatives ( 7. 2 % in december 2015 ) is also slightly higher than that of the banking sector as a whole. focusing on business in spain, the cooperative sector provides around 7 % of the total volume of credit used to finance non - financial corporations and households, in particular house purchases. the sector ’ s npl ratio stood at 11. 2 % in december 2015, having fallen by almost 1. 5 pp over the course of the year. in the analysis by sector, the household npl ratio stands at 5 %, and at 20. 4 % in the case of non - financial corporations. notably, on one hand, this ratio has fallen by more than 3 pp in 2015 ; and, on the other, if construction and real estate development companies are excluded,