dealing with the situation of developing countries. our compatriots are concerned about the solidity of european banks in general and that of french banks in particular. many readers are wondering if their savings are safe? are they safe? european banks are much stronger than they were in 2008. their capital ratios have practically doubled. their regulatory framework has been strengthened and their supervisors are far more vigilant and scrupulous than they were back then. the banking sector is as strong as one could wish for. savers can rest assured. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

guy quaden : efficiency and stability in an evolving financial system opening address by mr guy quaden, governor of the national bank of belgium, at the national bank of belgium conference on efficiency and stability in an evolving financial system, brussels, 17 and 18 may 2004. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i am pleased to welcome you at the third biannual international conference organised by the national bank of belgium. this year's subject is “ efficiency and stability in an evolving financial system ”. the topic is of the utmost importance not only to central banks but also to all economic agents. indeed, the efficiency and stability of the financial system is a prerequisite for the optimal allocation of capital over different sectors, for adequate risk - sharing across agents and ultimately for economic growth and stability. central banks have a particular interest in the maintenance of an efficient and resilient financial system, because it ensures the effective implementation of monetary policy and thus contributes to meeting the final objective of price stability, and to promoting high sustainable growth. over the past decade our financial systems have been going through major changes. those developments raise new questions and face central banks and other bodies having supervisory and regulatory powers with new challenges. in order to provide an appropriate response to these new and changing circumstances, policymakers should have a detailed knowledge of the ongoing processes and apply adequate theoretical models and insights to support their decisions. this conference combines keynote lectures by internationally distinguished researchers with the research effort of 6 belgian teams, 4 academic teams and 2 teams from within the bank. a selected group of international experts, with a broad research experience in financial issues, will act as discussants of these research papers. their comments will be the start of a discussion i would like all of you to participate in. we hope that this conference, offering central bankers, academic researchers and financial experts the opportunity to exchange ideas, will contribute to our understanding of the ongoing changes. major changes having taken place in our financial environment over the last five to ten years have been the introduction of the euro and european financial integration, the global financial liberalisation and the rapid development of new financial products, the consolidation in the banking industry and new technologies for producing financial services. the introduction of the euro has removed one of the main factors of financial segmentation across eurozone countries, namely the multiplicity of currencies. thereby, it has reduced the vulnerability of the financial and real sectors to exchange rate shocks. the resulting financial integration has proved to be impressive in the securities markets.