union ’ s future institutional shape, the foundations for a lasting solution should be in place. 3. closing remarks let me now return to japan, our host country. 25 years have passed since the bundesbank opened its representative office in tokyo. since then, it has successfully helped improve our understanding of the japanese economy. many of the developments which our office reported proved to be of importance for our own policies. let me mention the lessons from the build - up, bursting and clean - up of the japanese financial bubble and, in particular, the bank of japan ’ s experience in the fields of financial stability and unconventional monetary policy. another example is the lehman collapse in september of 2008. both the bundesbank ’ s office in tokyo and the bank of japan ’ s office in frankfurt provided an efficient channel for a vital bilateral flow of information. germany stood side by side with japan in the difficult times following the tragic events of 11 march, 2011. we are pleased to learn that the japanese economy is on a path to recovery. against this background i am particularly happy that the anniversary of our representative office coincides with the inauguration of our new premises. moreover, within these enlarged premises, we will set up a trading office which will begin operating this month. my colleague joachim nagel will now give you more information in this regard. bis central bankers ’ speeches

martin redrado : the central bank of argentina passed the test article by mr martin redrado, governor of the central bank of argentina, published in clarin newspaper on 5 august 2007. * * * this time, the epicenter was not latin america, southeast asia or southern africa. the financial turbulence of the past few days comes from the developed world – more specifically, the united states. real estate prices, which have been falling for more than twelve months now, have begun to affect the quality of the assets in the mortgage market. in particular, banks and mutual funds trading mortgages in the subprime market have passed on increased risk to the system. this has led to a massive sale off in most of the higher - yield asset classes, including emerging market securities, to cover losses in the markets of origin. against this turbulent backdrop, which leads to a new risk assessment and tighter credit, argentina has shown that it has the necessary exchange rate and monetary tools to provide its population with a horizon of solvency and predictability. in this context, the central bank of argentina is like a chess player playing simultaneous games, since monetary policy cannot have an erratic or spasmodic behavior. instead, each “ move ” must be in line with the global strategy applied in multiple chessboards, that is, preserving the value of currency, the stability and depth of the financial system, and the equilibrium in the monetary market. from this perspective, special attention should be given to the downstream effect of each “ move, ” since often, “ sacrificing a pawn ” may seem costly in the short - term, but healthy and consistent with the main goals of the framework in place from a strategic point of view. action taken – encompassing a set of financial and banking regulations and direct intervention in the monetary, foreign exchange and financial asset markets – should not be interpreted in isolation. instead, it responds to a preventive and consistent strategy developed in the past few years to ensure the necessary “ artillery ” to prevent frights in times of international financial turbulence. prudential foreign reserve accumulation is an example that speaks for itself. as with every insurance policy, it represents an “ abstract ” benefit while it is not used, but a “ concrete ” one in financial stress situations : the $ 44 billion in the central bank ’ s coffers were enough to discourage speculation that might have increased uncertainty. if this is coupled with the positive inflow of dollars coming from the external surplus, the potential