that his music touches people and connects them, which is why you arranged for arvid ’ s jazz company to play at this ceremony. and the songs you have chosen have touched a very large number of people : • “ hello dolly ” was louis armstrong ’ s biggest hit. • “ as time goes by ” became a celebrated piece with the film “ casablanca ”. • and “ fly me to the moon ” became so popular thanks to frank sinatra that the apollo 10 astronauts took the song with them on a cassette tape when they flew to the moon in 1969. mr benedikt, you are tuned in to relationships and connections. you see where things and people fit together well – for example this ceremony ’ s catchy and unifying jazz conducted by a bundesbank veteran. in this way, you grow networks as if by magic – to the benefit of all parties involved. at the bundesbank, this began in 1986 when you started your civil servant training programme here in munich. previously, you had studied economics in regensburg and completed a traineeship at dresdner bank. as part of german monetary union, you were responsible in munich for ensuring that deutsche marks were transported safely to dresden and chemnitz. you saw for yourself that the gdr ( german democratic republic ) ’ s police and military – heavily armed – took over the protection of the deutsche mark - filled cash - in - transit vehicles at the german border and accompanied them to their destination without incident. but you were an economist at heart and logistics could not compete with your interest in economics for long. therefore, soon after the turn of the millennium you took over as head of the economics division and for many years were the economic voice of the bundesbank in bavaria. after this you became head of the president ’ s office of the regional office in munich and then of in - house and branch operations. even then you were particularly committed to economic education. long before the bundesbank highlighted its strategic importance, you had already established teacher training activities in bavaria. you were a classic early mover. in 2013, you left your beloved bavaria and went to leipzig, as you couldn ’ t let the opportunity pass you by to be president of a regional office yourself, namely the one in saxony and thuringia. this role of president is one you took on again here in munich as of 2016. in saxony and thuringia, as well as in bavaria, you tackled the prominent tasks of a regional office president

carefully and analyse them. in the wake of the financial crisis, regulation has altered financial markets and the money market. particular examples that spring to mind are new provisions governing market risks, limitations on proprietary trading, and supervisory regulations effectively making many transactions more expensive. banks are complying with the new regulatory provisions. this means that banks – in particular large banks – are scaling back their activities in the money market. it remains to be seen whether other market participants – for instance, insurers or large mutual funds – gain a role in intermediation. a look at these five areas – the money market, new players, fragmentation, digital innovation and regulation – shows that they have all altered the financial markets – and the changes have been too many to mention here today. but one thing is clear : the new regime in the financial markets has yet to be put to a serious test over a full economic cycle. we do not yet know what further effects and changes lie ahead, even if we closely monitor the processes and circumstances. the “ new normal ” in the financial markets is, as such, a “ work in progress ”. resume 2 in conclusion, a central bank ’ s monetary policy has a direct impact via the financial markets, their structures and their players. this environment – monetary policy ’ s ecosystem – has changed. and it will go on changing. some of the changes were triggered by the financial crisis and the central banks ’ and regulatory authorities ’ crisis policies. other changes have emerged independently and follow major trends, such as digitalisation. to ensure that monetary policy decisions are successfully implemented in the market and in the real economy, it is crucial to understand market structures. we are thus following and analysing these processes carefully. if changes in the financial market are a “ work in progress ”, this ultimately means that the analysis of how monetary policy is transmitted to the financial markets is a “ work in progress ”, too. we are convinced that a central bank should be independent and committed solely to its objective of 5 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches ensuring price stability. it should not attempt to reshape financial markets and banking beyond this remit. during the crisis, central banks stepped into the breach with their emergency measures – like it or not. now, with the impending exit, we must engage in lively debate on controversial topics concerning fundamental issues of monetary policy. which strategy is the most fitting? which transmission measures are effective? discussions have been underway in the united states for some time