and closeness to and knowledge of customers should be able to play an important role here. detailed personal knowledge is an unbeatable weapon in competition. in conclusion with my speech, i have wished to contribute to increasing understanding of and support for the objectives and tasks delegated to us who have been appointed to manage the riksbank. i believe it is particularly important to create clarity in the sometimes exaggerated view of the import of the riksbank ’ s independent position. it is my definite view, given the control the government authorities have over the riksbank and the openness that characterises our activity, that the demands made in a democracy on an authority responsible for a branch of economic policy are well satisfied.

in the macroprudential area too, it is not just a question of bilateral cooperation between the individual national institutions. strategies and tools have to be developed to enable a structured exchange of information to take place and to harmonise courses of action. european and global forums are thus required. which forums exist already? the financial stability forum ( fsf ) was founded back in 1999. in 2009, this forum was expanded to include all of the g20 countries and has been re - established as the financial stability board ( fsb ). the fsb is one forum active in international macroprudential oversight. it deals with endogenous risks in the financial sector, ie vulnerabilities that either originate in the financial system itself or are amplified there. for instance, this could be shadow banking activities to generate liquidity in the financial system. the european systemic risk board ( esrb ) began its macroprudential oversight duties in 2011. its membership includes the european central bank together with the national central banks, the european commission, representatives of esrb committees as well as the three european financial supervisory authorities, namely the eba, esma and eiopa. the esrb was primarily conceived as an advisory body. it can issue warnings and recommendations. bis central bankers ’ speeches the “ comply or explain principle ” applies to esrb recommendations. if institutions do not follow recommendations issued, they have to state their reasons why. the esrb has an additional mandate, namely to ensure that countries do not take macroprudential measures at the expense of other countries. national macroprudential forums therefore first have to check with the esrb before proposing measures that have a cross - border effect. the macroprudential forum in germany is the financial stability committee ( ausschuss fur finanzstabilitat or afs ). the afs was set up this year. it provides an institutional framework for the cooperation between bafin, the federal ministry of finance and the bundesbank, which are the institutions that previously shared information informally about the macroeconomic situation in germany and the rest of the world. within the afs, the bundesbank is responsible for macroprudential oversight. the bundesbank can propose that the afs issue warnings and recommendations. if the afs believes that certain developments pose considerable risks to financial stability at a national level, it can make a public statement to that effect – and, most importantly, it can do this when signs of