financial system conference – dublin, 2 november 2022 financial regulation : a french perspective speech by francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the banque de france press contact : mark deen ( mark. deen @ banque - france. fr ), deborah guedj ( deborah. guedj @ banquefrance. fr ) page 1 sur 11 ladies and gentlemen, i am delighted to be here in dublin, and i would like to thank warmly governor gabriel makhlouf for the invitation to speak today at this financial system conference. i have already had the pleasure of coming here four years ago, to talk about financial globalisation and more specifically about current account imbalances and the resulting financial vulnerabilities. these topics have faded into the background for some time as a result of the unprecedented succession of shocks and crises. but financial stability is obviously returning to the front stage in these turbulent times, putting to the test the reforms undertaken over the last decade, but also pointing to new pockets of financial stress. against this backdrop, i will reflect on the possible end of a favourable decade for financial regulation and financial stability ( i ). i will then focus on the real estate sector – so sensitive here in ireland – as a practical study case of the progress enabled by our regulatory and macroprudential toolkit ( ii ). i. the end of a favourable decade for financial regulation and financial stability? a. financial regulation it has now been fifteen years since the onset of the great financial crisis – no need to recall the social, economic and financial damage incurred. but lessons were learned. a favourable era for financial regulation followed. this momentum was spurred by revived international cooperation at the highest level, with the milestone g20 summits in 2009 and 2010 – the political laboratory of the following financial reforms. they resulted in several achievements to strengthen the existing regulatory framework for financial institutions, but also in bringing unregulated segments, activities and actors under supervisory watch – such as over the counter markets, rating agencies and hedge funds. significant progress has been made on these fronts ; even though there still remains room for improvement, notably for a better regulation of non - banking financial intermediation ( nbfi ) – i will come back to this issue. page 2 sur 11 in the banking sector, improvements in the regulatory framework are more than evident. the basel iii agreements finalised in 2017 require larger and sounder buffers for the banking sector and strengthen market discipline.

security and management of the associated liquidity in the context of an integrated, competitive and innovative market for all cashless payments in euro. 3. improving the attractiveness and competitiveness of the paris financial centre the competitiveness of the paris financial centre is an advantage in our crisis exit strategy and one that is important to continue developing – particularly after the announcement of bis central bankers ’ speeches ice ’ s takeover bid for nyse euronext, which could substantially change the role of the financial centre ’ s players and generate new opportunities. it is essential that efforts undertaken to consolidate and develop market infrastructures as well as market and post - trade services be intensified. from this point of view, 2013 will represent an important step forward with the full deployment of the offer of clearing and triparty collateral management services for repo transactions in euro that has been developed with paris ’ s principal financial operators, banks, clearing and settlement infrastructures and the banque de france. we will also strive to take advantage of new opportunities as they emerge, particularly in the areas of services for financing, investment and settlement in increasingly international currencies ( such as the renminbi ) and infrastructures for enhancing market transparency ( such as data warehouses for the repo market for example ). 4. supporting the economy by offering financing under the best possible conditions the last point i would like to make is also crucial for economic recovery : it concerns lending to the economy. the downward trend that has been observed for some time is primarily due to a fall in demand. but we must of course ensure that the offer of financing remains sufficiently broad so that smes and mtes, who rarely have access to market financing, can weather the current difficult economic period without encountering additional difficulties. in particular cash facilities must remain sufficiently available and the conditions under which they are offered should not be systematically tightened. in fact, our quarterly survey of several thousand smes show a regular contraction of the rate at which smes ’ requests for cash facilities are fully granted. in the last quarter of 2012, this rate was only slightly higher than 50 %. the same is true, although to a lesser extent, for mid - tier enterprises ( mtes ). i therefore enjoin you, in general terms, to avoid reducing lending to the economy, which would aggravate the situation of companies and make the necessary economic recovery more difficult. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i have no doubt that you are ready to meet these challenges – particularly as you