- prints ) has now been successfully concluded and a zero - production run will be conducted in the autumn before mass production starts in early 1999. ( e ) payment systems the governing council endorsed a list of eligible securities settlement systems following an assessment of such systems against standards that had previously been laid down for their use in the credit operations of the escb. the list, which indicates those securities settlement systems that will be used by the escb and the conditions for their use, will be set out in the “ general documentation ”, to which i have already referred. in addition, the governing council approved a report on the “ assessment of eu securities settlement systems against the standards for their use in escb credit operations ”. it is intended to release this report during the next couple of weeks.

peter praet : fixed income investment of insurance companies and pension funds in a low yield – but volatile – environment speech by mr peter praet, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the 2011 european pension funds congress during the 14th euro finance week, frankfurt am main, 15 november 2011. * * * i would like to thank jurgen kirchoff, torsti silvonen and stefan wredenborg for their contributions to the preparation of this keynote speech as well as michel colinet and kajal vandenput for their helpful comments and all members of the cgfs working group on fixed income strategies of insurance companies and pension funds for the preparation of its report. ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to speak here at the european pension funds congress in frankfurt, which forms an important part of the 14th euro finance week. earlier this year i was asked to chair a global working group with participating central banks from north america, europe and asia for the so - called committee on the global financial system, cgfs, which works under the bank for international settlement. our aim was to assess how the regulatory initiatives together with the low - yield environment have affected the fixed income strategies of institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, and to draw implications for the financial system. in doing so, we relied on bilateral interviews and regional roundtables, involving 70 private sector institutions. even after discounting industry complaints, there are grounds for expecting certain adjustments to the assets, liabilities and derivatives books run by insurance companies and pension funds. i would like to share the main findings of the cgfs work with you and express some of my views on the topic. our exercise is published in the form of a cgfs report, which can be found at the web - site of the bank of international settlements. 1 i will first provide some background on the role of insurance companies and pension funds, then elaborate on the main changes concerning international accounting standards and the regulatory front, before presenting some views on potential financial system implications. 1. background on the role of insurance companies and pension funds insurance companies and pension funds ( icpfs ) indeed currently find themselves at the intersection of major developments. having weathered the financial crisis on the whole comparatively well, they are now exposed to problems confronting some euro area sovereigns and banks, the low - interest rate environment, and they face upcoming changes in international regulation and accounting standards. with combined assets of some $ 40