francois villeroy de galhau : new year wishes to the paris financial centre new year wishes to the paris financial centre by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france, paris, 15 january 2020. * * * i would like to welcome you for this for this happy tradition of extending my new year wishes to the paris financial centre. but there are not just financial players here, there are also elected representatives, the press, and many associations that work with us. i would like to start by extending to you, on behalf of the banque de france and the acpr, our warmest wishes for 2020, for you and all of your staff. and a special thought goes to all those who are struggling with transport difficulties, or those who have, sadly, been the victim of the unacceptable attacks on branches. within this tradition, i would like to welcome some new developments : the arrival of dominique laboureix as secretary general of acpr, alongside patrick montagner, bertrand peyret, frederic visnovsky, and emmanuelle assouan, who will now be in charge of financial stability issues. in a world as hectic as ours, it is risky to make professional wishes. however, i will hazard three wishes for the financial sector in our country : that 2020 will be a year of stabilisation, a year of adaptation and a year of inclusion. * * 1 – a year of stabilisation last year, i had talked about the three challenges for growth : uncertainty, isolationism – particularly the united states – and impatience, which is hampering sustainable reform efforts. none of these has disappeared. but french growth is holding up at 1. 3 % in 2019 despite a slowdown at the end of the year, and we are expecting 1. 1 % in 2020. and we can practically rule out a us or european recession in 2020, which was often feared last year. these initial signs of economic stabilisation, highlighted in our latest december eurosystem staff projections, reflect a relative decline in trade uncertainties. if this stabilisation materialises, it should result in a stabilisation of monetary policy. this means two things : seen from today ’ s perspective, like the markets do, it is [ therefore ] reasonable to expect that over the coming months our policies and interest rates will remain stable. the year 2020 will be all the more conducive to conducting the strategic review of our monetary policy

housing loans. these points will be particularly closely monitored by the acpr in 2020, and they are – i stress – of common interest to both you and us – in terms of financial stability. lastly, to meet the challenge of profitability, french banks and insurers must be able to – at last! – operate in a genuine single financial market conducive to cross - border consolidation. and yet, the banking union is still half - finished : progress on resolution – second pillar – is at least as important as that on the deposit guarantee scheme – third pillar. moreover, in the run - up to the arduous discussions on the future relationship with the united kingdom, europe must – more than ever before – assert its financial sovereignty. this requires the capital markets union. i 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches would like to express my support for the priorities put forward in the “ next cmu ” report and for the high - level forum ( hlf ) launched by the new commission. if 2020 proves to be not only the year of brexit, but also the year of a savings and sustainable investment union, europe will have turned the problem into an opportunity. 3 – a year of inclusion we can look forward to two real advances in inclusion in 2019 : a fifth consecutive year of declining household over - indebtedness, by almost 40 % over this period, and the implementation of a cap on bank charges at eur 25 per month for more than three million vulnerable customers. within this population, the specific offer – capping charges at eur 20 per month and eur 200 per year – now benefits 464, 000 customers, or an increase of 32 % compared with end - 2017. i would like to take this opportunity to thank the banking community, which has worked hard to meet its commitments. now, these commitments must be enhanced, and sustained. enhanced in 2020 : banks must detect fragile customers even more efficiently ; they must correct the few remaining shortcomings ; and they must raise awareness of their specific offers. these commitments must be sustained over time, and will be monitored by the acpr, and by the observatory for banking inclusion, which i chair, with an active role for the associations. climate change will also be the priority in 2020. and you can count on the determination of the banque de france and acpr – with its new climate and sustainable finance committee – to support the greening of the financial sector. we will conduct the