monetary policy. 2. macro financial risks and outlook in this context marked by the rise in external shocks, strong uncertainty about the extent of their impact and their duration, and a change in the interest rate environment with the prospect of very low or even negative rates over a long period coming to an end, we can collectively rejoice in the fact that for more than two years the banking sector has been resilient ; it has contributed to mitigating shocks and not to amplifying them. this shock absorption capacity is an asset that must be maintained and even strengthened. this can be done through two channels : supervision and regulation. the macroeconomic risks and outlook in particular confirm the need to keep the monitoring of banks'credit and market risks high on the supervisory agenda of the acpr and the single supervisory mechanism ( ssm ). the immediate impact of the war in ukraine on financial stability has so far been adequately absorbed as the direct exposures of the financial sector to russia were low. however, risks to banks and financial stability may materialise through second - round effects and indirect channels from pre - existing vulnerabilities, notably those associated with ( i ) sectors most dependent on energy commodities, ( ii ) the development of leveraged finance and ( iii ) exposure to cyber - attacks. in this respect, particular attention should be paid to potentially sharp revaluations of high risk asset prices. the same holds true for rising prices and volatility in commodity markets and the considerable increase in margin calls on derivatives, in particular for energy and agricultural products. these have already put pressure on the liquidity of commodity market participants. very careful monitoring of credit and liquidity risks in the energy commodities sector is therefore required, in particular to ensure that any potential default ( e. g. by a trader ) remains contained and does not lead to systemic contagion. our second instrument for maintaining and strengthening banks'shock absorption capacity, after supervision, is regulation. i would like once again to stress the importance of an effective, fair and final implementation of the basel iii accord, in its final 2017 version. as i said it last year, quoting the governor, and it is even more the case today in the light of the crises we are facing : the basel iii rules represent the best possible agreement to promote financial stability at the international level. the european commission's proposal ( crr3 / crd6 ) to finalise the implementation of these rules is a decisive and very balanced step

christian noyer : is speculation the enemy of investment? speech by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, aix - en - provence economic forum, aix - en - provence, 5 july 2014. * * * between paradox and illusion : a narrow path for finance seven years after the start of the crisis, the french public – and they are not alone in this – remain largely hostile to the world of finance. despite huge efforts at reform, there are still doubts hanging over the sector. is finance useful for the economy? or, in its current form, is it merely a tool for ever - increasing speculation, at the expense of investment and the longterm needs of the economy? the fact that we still need to ask this question shows that we are living in difficult and paradoxical times, where the inner workings of the economy are often a mystery. in this context, it is tempting to fall back on simple solutions ; but that would be dangerous, and i will try to sketch out, in just a few minutes, what i believe would be a good middle ground between an unconditional love for and an exaggerated hatred of financial activity. i / – when we look at the economic and financial environment today, we can see that it is characterised by five paradoxes 1 / – first paradox : we have carried out a lot of reforms, but the flow of credit, at least of bank credit, to the economy is still insufficient. after three years of intense efforts, the main international regulatory bodies – the basel committee, fsb, and g20 – have achieved impressive results. we have significantly reinforced financial regulation, tightened capital and liquidity requirements, built more robust and efficient banks with healthier and more solid balance sheets. but despite this, bank lending remains sluggish. at the same time, bond issues have shot up, including those by less creditworthy borrowers, while issuance conditions have become less and less rigorous. the main losers in this two - pronged scenario are smes. 2 / – second paradox : the economy is struggling but stock markets are soaring. as you know, although many countries are now seeing a marked recovery, the overall pace of growth remains disappointing. recent figures for the us are below expectations. there ’ s still some uncertainty over chinese growth. and the euro area is struggling to get off the ground. despite this, the main stock market indices have risen by around