some cyber attacks but does not go without costs. finally, cyber - security is also a global issue : for a more effective response, it is necessary to establish cooperation at an international level and across sectors, well beyond the financial sector. in that perspective, initiatives from the financial stability oversight council ( fsoc ) in the us to improve cooperation between sectors, particularly those dependent on the financial sector, such as the utilities or telecommunications sectors, or the establishment of european network and information security agency are much welcomed. ii. against that background, understanding the threats, organizing protection and prevention as well as the coordination of the private and public actions are prerequisites for effectively fighting cybercrime. the aim of today ’ s seminar is to reflect collectively on this and to share experience. the first important step is to understand why the financial sector is a popular target of hacker attacks. that ’ s one of the objectives of the first panel of distinguished speakers. they will attempt to answer such questions as : what are the factors making the financial sector a privileged target for cybercrime? how to identify and quantify cyber - attacks? what impacts of cyber - criminality on financial stability? there is one question we must pay particular attention to : the virtual currencies. recent operations against financial criminality have evidenced that new payment methods using the internet, and linking the virtual sphere with the real sphere, are a privileged way for cyber criminals to launder money. virtual currencies have indeed recently drawn attention from authorities and from central banks in particular. designed as alternatives to official currencies but with no guarantee of reimbursement, they cannot be classified as currencies because they lack legal tender and therefore do not infringe the central banks ’ monopoly in the issuance of money. however, although they currently do not pose a significant threat to financial stability, they do pose serious questions in terms of money laundering and can be perceived as vehicles for speculative investments. virtual currencies therefore bring challenges to authorities when it comes to regulating them. our speakers on the virtual currencies topic could address such questions as : should the use of virtual currencies be prohibited to protect us from cybercrime and the expansion of money laundering or bis central bankers ’ speeches terrorism? or is it better to set out the legal, regulatory and ethical issues of the virtual currencies? a round table dealing with financial sector solutions to curb new cybercriminals ’ strategies will follow. to

in times of trouble, sovereigns, like financial institutions can be either illiquid, or insolvent, or both. in many cases, the distinction is blurred. when uncertainty is high, sovereigns face liquidity shortages, and they can only issue new debt at constantly higher interest rates. this, in turn, creates doubts about their ultimate solvency, triggering a negative spiral. this process is clearly at work in peripheral europe, especially spain and italy, since the beginning of august. bis central bankers ’ speeches in short, sovereign solvency is partly endogenous. good fundamentals are an absolute necessity, but not always a sufficient condition. liquidity spirals, when allowed to develop, can lock a country, just like a financial institution, into a bad equilibrium. what is therefore the appropriate policy reaction? we had a continuing debate on that question in 2009 – 2010 when dealing with financial institutions. we are faced with the same question now regarding sovereign risk. the standard answer is twofold. first, get the fundamentals right. for european countries, it means reverting to a sustainable fiscal position which, in most cases, necessitates a significant primary surplus. necessary efforts are greater now since doubts have been created about sovereigns ’ ability to meet their obligations. and second, when solvency is achieved, there is a need for a liquidity backstop to ensure that bad equilibria will not be allowed to develop. where that backstop is coming from is a key question in the current debate. in most jurisdictions, but crucially not in the euro area, unconventional monetary policies have led central banks to purchase significant amounts of government debt : those purchases amount to 51 % of the total debt issued since 2009 in the uk, 21 % in the us and 7. 6 % in the euro area – where they were fully sterilized. although this was not the primary purpose, this policy stance has contributed to giving markets an insurance, or even an assurance, against a potential dry - up in liquidity. in all countries where significant amounts of debt have been purchased by monetary authorities, long - term interest rates have been kept at very low levels, irrespective of their fiscal situation. by contrast, purchases of sovereign debt by the eurosystem have remained extremely limited and will stay so. our objectives are very circumscribed : avoid disruptions in the monetary policy transmission mechanism. any lasting liquidity backstop has to come from