ignazio visco : translating a shared vision into a winning story welcoming remarks by mr ignazio visco, governor of the bank of italy, at the t2s launch celebration, milan, 2 july 2015. * * * good afternoon. president draghi, colleagues of the european central bank, of the european parliament and the eu commission, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you all here today, in milan ( the destination of the year, let me say in passing ), to share this important moment : the launch of the target2securities platform. for the euro area and the eurosystem, we are now living through what is, to say the least, a challenging period. this acknowledged, we must nonetheless recognize that t2s is a major achievement. this ambitious project is now reality thanks to the combined effort and cooperation of 21 countries - represented by their central banks, central securities depositories and financial market institutions - together with the european institutions : the ecb, the parliament and the commission. the t2s platform that has been built by four national central banks – banca d ’ italia, deutsche bundesbank, banque de france, banco de espana ( the so - called 4cbs ) - is now in operation with a first group of securities depositories and their linked - in user communities for the settlement of securities transactions in euro. by february 2017, at the end of the migration period, the platform will be deployed across europe, covering the vast majority of securities transactions in euro. the activities that took place over the migration weekend of 20 - 21 june ran smoothly. they were coordinated by the teams from the 4cbs and the ecb. since the 22nd, banca d ’ italia and bundesbank have had the responsibility for operating the platform. the t2s project was large and complex, involving many stakeholders. we have come a long way : from the start of the specification phase to the go - live, the project took seven years. the 4cbs, mandated by the eurosystem, developed and implemented the platform. this has been a demanding task, one to which our institutions have devoted substantial resources. aside from the role of developer and operator of t2s, the four central banks have been actively involved in the project through the participation in technical and steering structures with an important role in the governance of the platform. the participation of securities depositories in t2s is voluntary

give rise to litigation ; the expected benefits risk being annulled. in order to foster the mobility of bank customers and increase competition, the abolition of these costs must be accompanied by simplification of the bureaucratic formalities and the automatic transfer of accountrelated services within a short and definite time limit. this is the message of the european commission ’ s recent report on competition in the banking sector. according to the report, the annual management fees for a bank current account in italy amount to €90, compared with a european average of €14. an earlier survey by the bank of italy on a sample of accounts at banks subject to inspection indicated a figure of €163. naturally, difference between the estimates also reflects the number, type and frequency of use of the services considered. the markets in financial instruments directive, which i mentioned earlier in connection with its influence on the structure of financial markets, will also inevitably have a significant effect on the relations between banks and customers. a new and clearer definition of the information and conduct requirements applying to banks will increase the transparency of their relations with customers and make the latter ’ s choices better informed. the new rules, especially those concerning conflicts of interest and inducements, will have a major impact on banks ’ operations and organization. effective protection of customers also requires rapid and economical ways to enforce rights. the law on the protection of savings requires banks to adhere to mechanisms for the out - of - court settlement of disputes. the rules governing the procedures and the composition of the decision - making body will build on the experience gained with the banking ombudsman ; they will adopt an approach based on self - regulation by intermediaries and careful consideration of customers ’ claims and interests. no formal guarantee can be effective if the persons concerned do not have appropriate instruments for making evaluations. if savers are to be able to find their way among so many different and complex financial products, they will need to have an adequate and up - to - date financial culture. the initiatives undertaken in this field are only a start. the bank of italy stands ready to contribute. in my speech to you last year i drew attention to the need to ensure that asset management companies were independent of the banking and insurance groups that control them and distribute their products. this can be achieved by strict corporate governance rules and, if these are insufficient, by measures regarding ownership structures. the present integration between production and distribution of financial products reduces the scope for exploiting the economies of scale present in