which can be very useful both to improve the efficiency of the companies and banks and also to reduce slovenia ’ s debt level. slovenian banks were subject recently to a very strict and a very conservative review by auditing companies roland berger and oliver wyman. in the end, there was the impression that we are forced to apply the most extreme, the most pessimistic and the most costly scenario as calculated by oliver wyman. do you agree? i don ’ t want to pass a judgement on the stress test itself which was done by the slovenian authorities. in principle we are in favour of a strict approach to the stress tests. it is important to be on the safe side, to be prepared for the future and it is important that the banks are sound again so that they can lend to companies. so recapitalising banks should not be seen as a cost but as an investment in the future, so that banks can extend new loans to the economy. slovenia has to address its banking legacy issues and be on the safe side. are you also going to support such a strict, conservative approach this year when 128 key european banks will be analysed? are these banks going to be examined as rigorously as ours? bis central bankers ’ speeches absolutely, it will be the same philosophy. we will discuss all the parameters with the 18 supervisors – the so - called “ national competent authorities ” of the 18 euro area countries – within the ecb ’ s new supervisory board, which met for the first time on 30 january. this will be the place where all the assumptions, parameters and choices will be discussed. this will be the first important contribution made by the single supervisory mechanism to the euro area. the principles will be the same and they will be very strict, to make sure that we know everything about the situation of the banks this time – and to be sure that measures are taken to prepare for the future. several critical reviews of the oliver wyman financial consultancy appeared recently in the foreign press. why has the ecb decided to use oliver wyman, of all companies, to carry out such a demanding task and what were the selection criteria? there was an open, competitive selection process and oliver wyman came first. taxpayers in slovenia have paid over €3 billion, nearly 9 % of gdp, for the recapitalisation of troubled state - owned banks alone. banks are now full of capital. but on the other hand they are not lending money to companies for their working capital

establishment of the unified unsecured money market in euro. in addition, the simple quotation of all euro area stocks and government bonds in one single currency was seen per se as an immediate step towards integration. more recently, however, there has appeared a certain frustration as - despite all the ongoing efforts and initiatives observers seem to comment more on the obstacles to progress than on its continuation. for my part, even though i acknowledge that the current situation is not fully satisfactory, i would not want to take an exaggeratedly negative view on this issue. progress may at times be slower than the end - users of the market are entitled to expect, but it is still taking place. i believe, however, that the particular market conditions that we are now facing may provide an opportunity for an acceleration of the process. the current pressure for cost - cutting and efficiency gains in the financial sector at this particular moment in time may accelerate the movement of consolidation, in particular in the field of market infrastructure. stock exchanges are naturally an essential part of this movement. integration, however, should not occur only as a reaction to external pressures. it should also be proactive, motivated by a vision of the optimal organisation and infrastructure of the market that can best serve the interest of all its users. the time and effort spent devising this optimal structure may appear to be intense today, but it can yield considerable returns tomorrow. but let me remind you why we, at the ecb, put so much emphasis on the integration of financial markets. one source of interest stems from our tasks as a central bank. this has multiple facets. the implementation of monetary policy clearly requires an efficient and fully - integrated money market. it also requires a high degree of integration of the securities market, because our credit operations are fully collateralised, and therefore rely heavily on the smooth delivery of securities. moreover, a homogenous transmission of monetary policy actions across the whole euro area clearly also greatly benefits from efficient and fully - integrated markets. furthermore, our interest in market integration also stems, of course, from our statutory duty to promote the efficiency and soundness of payment systems, as well as our responsibility to contribute to the maintenance of financial stability. lastly, but in my view most importantly, a well - functioning single market for financial services will benefit economic development within the eu. 2. what type of financial integration and how ( and by whom ) can financial integration be furthered? stating why we want integration gives us a huge clue as to