my view, however, the " dutch " model has evident advantages, especially given the high degree of concentration of our banking system. in our country, banking supervision, monetary policy and payments are literally accommodated under one roof. i consider this essential, because of the common ground between the three areas and the synergy benefits for the information supply. the benefits brought by the combination of the said task areas are manifest not only in good times, but also in bad times. in the event of a crisis, adequate and rapid action based on the latest information is imperative. the way in which the key tasks are organised at the nederlandsche bank enhances the quality of the decision - making process. this was once more made clear by the tragic event in the united states. a final word central banks play a pivotal role in bringing about financial stability. there can be no stability without confidence. confidence in the value and authenticity of money ; confidence, also, in the solvency and integrity of the financial institutions to which we entrust our money ; confidence in the adequate operation of the financial infrastructure ; and, confidence in the independence and expertise of the monetary and supervisory authorities. confidence is not gained overnight, but takes time to grow because, to be trusted, the guardian of stability requires a track record. the bank of russia is a young central bank. it was founded in 1990 and, just like the ecb, is still in the middle of building up such as track record. i am convinced that the mutual contacts and exchange of ideas during this forum will contribute to this process.

responsibility of the national authorities, the introduction of emu has hardly had consequences for this task. however, the financial world and, consequently, supervision are really in a state of flux. think, for example, of the ongoing process of concentration and internationalisation. also the dividing lines between the various kinds of institution are fading as financial conglomerates are formed. the products and services offered by these conglomerates are growing increasingly complex. in view of the attendant risks and uncertainties, today ’ s consumers must be better and more extensively informed than they used to be in the past. the developments i just sketched call for a new supervisory approach in the netherlands. recently, the three supervisory authorities, the securities board of the netherlands, the pensions and insurance supervisory authority of the netherlands and the nederlandsche bank, submitted a proposal to the minister of finance regarding an adjustment of the current supervisory practice to the changed circumstances. to be precise, they proposed that supervision should be split up into behavioural supervision and prudential supervision. in the situation as envisaged, the securities board of the netherlands was to deal with behavioural supervision, including customer protection, while prudential supervision would be the domain of the nederlandsche bank and the pensions and insurance supervisory authority of the netherlands. in addition, the nederlandsche bank would continue to be responsible for the supervision of the system, meaning that it would continue to promote the stability of the financial system. why national supervisors? the question regularly arises whether we should not be working towards a single european prudential supervisor. one important argument in favour of national supervision is that national supervisors maintain close relations with individual institutions and financial markets in their countries. they are better placed to interpret information and identify and deal with problems swiftly and effectively than a single supranational supervisor would be. this helps the decision - making process. of course, the ongoing internationalisation of the financial sector does have implications for supervision. that is why supervisors are continuously consulting on an international level about harmonisation of the rules and a level playing field. besides, the nederlandsche bank has exchanged so - termed memoranda of understanding with supervisors in a number of countries. synergy benefits the three key tasks of the nederlandsche bank, which i just discussed, do not stand alone, but interact. in each of the areas of activities, the nederlandsche bank has a key role. i ’ m aware that this isn ’ t the case in all countries. in