andreas dombret : the marathon has only just begun – what will come after the stress test? opening statement by dr andreas dombret, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the press conference following publication of the comprehensive assessment results, frankfurt am main, 26 october 2014. * 1. * * introduction – the marathon has only just begun ladies and gentlemen what we have just completed – a comprehensive balance sheet assessment and a tough stress test for the 130 largest banks in the euro area – can only be described as a tour de force. dr elke konig has just presented the results of the exercise. i will now look ahead to the future. i will use the same metaphor which dr konig has already used, and which appears entirely appropriate here in frankfurt today. while we are sitting here in this room, a couple of thousand people are still outside running the frankfurt marathon. a marathon is, without a doubt, an enormous challenge. and anyone who intends to run a marathon should first undergo a rigorous health check to find out whether he or she will even be physically up to the task. the comprehensive assessment was an extremely thorough check - up, including a demanding “ cardiac stress test ”. you now know the outcome : germany ’ s large banks are robust enough to withstand even severe stress. this is certainly an encouraging result, as for the banks, the marathon is only just beginning. competition is becoming tougher and more international ; regulation is becoming stricter, and supervision more european ; in addition, the economic setting is challenging – think “ lowinterest - rate environment ” – and technology is continuously evolving. surviving and prevailing under these conditions is akin to a marathon. in addition, theoretically being able to withstand even severe stress will not automatically guarantee that the runner will finish the race. even though he or she may be in very good shape at the starting line, the runner can still make many mistakes during the race. and, in future, there will be no more “ sovereign paramedics ” at the side of the road to help stumbling banks back on their feet. 2. profitability – competition is tough and international what the exercise conducted over the past 12 months has shown is that germany ’ s largest banks are able to withstand even severe stress. that will certainly help them to finish the marathon – but will not be enough to enable them to win it. that aim will require not only resilience but also the ability to outrun the competition –

, europe and around the world. yet politicians must also play their part. the crisis has shown how dangerous an unstable banking system can be for the real economy. the most important step to address this issue is, of course, to improve regulation and supervision. that has been achieved. but especially in europe it would be worthwhile to take measures to ease the real economy ’ s access to alternative sources of funding. some initial ideas on a european capital markets union are already being discussed ; let ’ s seize the opportunity to make these ideas a reality. so i should actually correct what i said at the beginning of my remarks. it isn ’ t just the banks which are now standing at the starting line of a marathon – so are politicians. and it is in everyone ’ s interest to arrive safely and swiftly at the finishing line together. thank you very much. bis central bankers ’ speeches