. indeed, both regulations introduce more stringent organizational, managerial and prudential requirements in order to ensure that those clearing houses are safe and sound and comply at all times with those requirements. the fact that both regulations are overall consistent and support the same objectives is of crucial importance and it is a first achievement for financial stability. nevertheless, it is only a first step, and implementation measures have still to be elaborated by european and american competent authorities and, as recalled by a popular saying : as usual “ the devil is in the details ”. bis central bankers ’ speeches therefore, it is of the uttermost importance to further encourage cooperation and exchange of information between the european and american competent authorities. i will come back on this issue later on. 1. 2 concerning the recent evolutions of the banking regulation, let me first point out that, to me, the basel 3 package constitutes a very significant advance that will in the long run strengthen the prudential framework for banks. the main message i would like to emphasize today is that basel 3 is a balanced reform, in the sense that it is both ambitious and cautious. the scope of risks captured by the basel framework has been enhanced very significantly. banks ’ capacity to absorb losses has been magnified by more than three times if, beyond the higher level, you account for the improvements in the quality of capital. some incentives towards excessive risk - taking have been corrected, through higher capital requirements for riskier activities, notably those related to re - securitization, and also through new rules for compensation policies. a leverage ratio will be introduced that will act as a backstop, and not a substitute, to risk - weighted regulation. besides, i believe that, with basel 3, some important work of harmonization has already been done. for instance, we now have a far more stringent and more harmonized definition of regulatory capital. the need for common and internationally harmonized capital and liquidity requirements has been broadly recognized and will be made operational in the near term. basel 3 represents therefore an ambitious goal. at the same time, it has been set in a cautious way in order not to impact the financing of the economy and the global growth. those latter points are the reasons for the rather long phasing in, that has been put in place by the basel committee. this phasing in period should also enable countries that did not move to basel 2 – namely the us –, to implement basel 3 at the same pace than european

the banque de france became the cornerstone of the national monetary and financial system. 8 it has remained in that role ever since. changes to the french economy and its growing openness to trade, particularly with european partners, spurred the creation of the euro in 1999. since that time, the single currency has shielded companies from the effects of the currency crises and of the devaluations that periodically affected our economy from the second world war until the mid - 1980s. the euro has also increased our ability to weather crises, as shown by the monetary policy during the covid - 19 pandemic. last, but by no means least, it has made our daily life easier by enabling us to share the same currency as our neighbours and main trading partners. the second broad category of services provided to the regions seek to support local economies and societies through a presence on the ground. and while the actual tasks performed by the bank ’ s branches have changed since the network began expanding in the 1830s, the end goal remains unchanged : to support and serve local economies in order to back local initiatives and provide assistance in coping with economic and financial risks. from the time of its creation until the first world war, operating in an economy with relatively few banks and in which few people had bank accounts, the branch network of the banque de france aimed at facilitating payments and supporting the regions during economic shocks by offering discount refinancing solutions. france ’ s economy has changed enormously since the 19th century. gdp per capita has grown by a factor of more than 20 since 1800 and by more than seven since 1914. 9 our banking and financial system has also been greatly modernised and now offers payment and credit solutions that are much faster and less costly than in the past. reflecting these dual economic and financial transformations, the way in which the bank performs its task of serving the regional economies has evolved. our service to support local economies have expanded and now extend to households, especially the most vulnerable people, and companies, particularly the smallest leclercq, yves, 1999, la formation d'une banque centrale : la banque de france ( annees 1830 - annees 1850 ), revue economique vol. 50, pp. 151 - 174 9 source : our world in data, maddison project database 2020, see jutta bolt and jan luitten van zanden, maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. a new 2020 update, maddison -