overall image of a european banking sector that is in fact much stronger than before. today the question arises as to the architecture of european supervision and regulation. indeed, the commission has opened the triennial review of the functioning of the three european authorities, in charge of convergence in the regulation of banks, insurance companies and markets respectively. in the short term, it is essential to relocate the european banking authority to take account of brexit. the powers and governance of the three authorities could also be adjusted to further improve their efficiency, but i do not think it would be useful in the short term to radically change the existing architecture. greater changes – which could also bring supervision and resolution closer together – could be considered once brexit has occurred and the banking union and the capital markets union are well established. with regard to brexit, i would like to reiterate a requirement which, in our view, is obvious : clearing operations in euro, for all those of systemic importance, must be located where the supervision of the eurosystem can be exercised effectively. and after brexit, we do not see how this could be in london. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches ii. the 2016 results of the french banking and insurance sectors in 2016, in a context marked by the low level of interest rates, the major french banks showed solid performances and compared favourably with their european counterparts. their profitability increased, with their net profit ( group share ) amounting to eur 24. 3 billion, up 3. 1 % over the year. moreover, the french banking system was able to strengthen its higher quality capital, while maintaining the financing to the economy. the ratio of core capital now stands at 13. 2 % of riskweighted assets, up 60 bp from 2015 ; this represents a eur 164 billion increase in capital since 2008 for the major banks, i. e. more than a two - fold increase : an increase of more than 120 % in less than 10 years. at the same time, with a 20 % decrease in the cost of risk compared to 2015, lending to the economy remained buoyant : + 4. 9 % in outstanding loans to non - financial corporations and + 4. 5 % to households. this growth, the strongest in europe, accelerated further at the end of march : 5. 3 % for non - financial corporations, 5. 6 % for households. while the management of these risks at the level of individual institutions does not give

francois villeroy de galhau : presentation of the 2016 annual report of the acpr speech by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the autorite de controle prudentiel et de resolution ( acpr ), at the press conference, paris, 29 may 2017. * * * i am pleased to welcome you today for the presentation of the 7th activity report of the autorite de controle prudentiel et de resolution ( acpr ), with bernard delas, vice - president of the acpr, remi bouchez, president of the sanctions committee, and edouard fernandez - bollo, secretary general of the acpr. as you know, the acpr and its 1, 046 staff members have a broad field of action. the acpr guarantees the stability of our financial system, through the supervision of banks and insurance companies, but it also guarantees the protection of french customers and savers. first of all, i would like to mention our essential involvement both at the european and the international level. i will then present the results of the main french banking and insurance groups, before addressing four major challenges that strongly shape the acpr ’ s action : low interest rates, digital finance, customer protection, the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. * * * i. the acpr ’ s action at the european and international level at the european level, the acpr has taken an active part in furthering the deployment of the banking union. the acpr has greatly contributed to the smooth functioning of the joint supervisory teams, which supervise the major french banking groups, with 38 on - site missions. under the second pillar, the single resolution mechanism, which entered into force on 1 january 2016, the acpr has actively prepared the preventive plans for the resolution of the four french banking groups known as systemic banks and the transitional resolution plans for the other important groups. two and a half years of banking union, this is a significant step forward, but its construction is not yet completed : we have to complete the “ resolution ” pillar, with finalised and simpler rules between mrel and tlac, with a more efficient functioning between frankfurt, brussels and the national authorities. the banking problems that remain in italy, portugal and even elsewhere can be solved : but they must be dealt with quickly, and definitively. it is not normal to have localised difficulties weigh to such an extent on the