as you know, we have taken a very neutral stance on this issue and neither encouraged or discouraged the use of the euro as a reserve currency. in fact, the euro is increasingly used in international transactions and accepted for payments ( including retail ones ) in many countries – as european tourists can experience every day. recently, the eurozone seems to exert a stronger influence on global monetary conditions. for the first time in many decades, long - term rates in europe have significantly decoupled from those of the us. also, there is some evidence of “ reverse causality ” with euro long term rates increasingly impacting us rates, creating new channels for monetary spillovers and feedbacks. however, the euro is not yet widely used as a unit of account : most global transactions – especially in commodities – are denominated in dollar. a majority of new securities issuances are also denominated in dollars. new global currencies? as the geography of the world economy changes, so will the shape of the international monetary system. over the last two decades, china has grown into one of the two largest economies in the world. at the same time, authorities are constantly announcing new steps to increase the renminbi ( rmb ) convertibility and develop its use in international transactions. it is therefore natural to wonder whether the rmb will emerge as a major international currency in the foreseeable future. in line with my introductory remarks, i will refrain from any geopolitical speculation on this question and present a few technical – and personal – remarks on the nature of a global currency. what does it take to become a reserve currency? it is generally assumed that this status brings important privileges, some of them “ exorbitant ”. it is also forgotten that it comes with significant obligations. first, being a reserve asset means that the currency enjoys full and unconditional capital account convertibility towards both residents and non - residents. the economy is therefore fully integrated with global capital markets and fully exposed to external financial shocks. this creates a very demanding environment. convertibility essentially means that you accept the judgment of “ foreigners ” as to the true value and purchasing power of your domestic currency. although it is not often perceived as such, it entails some abandonment of sovereignty, through the loss of some independence in monetary policy. this is the famous “ mundell trilemma ” : no country can simultaneously have a fixed exchange rate, full capital bis central bankers ’ speeches convertibility

2012 in the sepa area, and accounted for 60 % of all fraud losses on cards issued inside the sepa. fortunately, the vulnerabilities at the root of those frauds are well identified and important efforts are underway both by public authorities and the private sector to address them. in france an important contribution comes from the “ observatory for payment cards security ”, which i have the pleasure to chair. its recommendations have facilitated the recognition by stakeholders, who are all represented in the observatory, of the importance of strong customer authentication for internet payments and facilitated its wide adoption. this has significantly contributed to limit the impact on fraud rates, at least for national payments, and it has helped foster the dramatic expansion of e - commerce that we currently see. but beyond the development of card payments via the internet, other innovations such as mobile and contactless payments or online banking services also raise important issues. these issues notably include the protection of sensitive payment data. to address them, the banque de france has been working with the banking community, which translated into an agreement in 2011 to promote the protection of bank account identifiers and card numbers. this issue of protection of sensitive data appears all the more important to address that we bis central bankers ’ speeches witness the entry of newcomers in the payment chain like third party payment services providers, who may contribute positively to foster innovation and potentially competition in the retail payments market but whose modus operandi should not lead to lower the current security level of online banking services. what lessons can we draw from that experience to promote best practices in the field of security for retail payments on a larger scale? i would like to underline three of them which might be of interest for your debate today : first, consumer uptake of innovative payment solutions is all the more large and sustainable that those solutions are safe and it is in the innovators ’ interest to pay enough attention to security issues. second, the dialogue and the cooperation between the stakeholders in the security of payments is a must to obtain solid results. forums like the french “ observatory for payment cards security ” which gathers merchants, consumers, banking and payment markets stakeholders, but also representatives from the french parliament and other relevant public authorities may prove quite helpful from that perspective. in that kind of forums, authorities have an important role to play as catalysts in order to facilitate consensus between players, to overcome technical issues and to adopt requirements which will ensure the highest security of retail payments while encouraging innovation and efficiency. lastly, cooperation and