of central banks in module 5, entitled “ blockchain – a central bank perspective ". as a central bank, we are faced with the question of how to deal with blockchain technology. in settlement, we are affected in two ways. as an operator of central payment and securities settlement systems, we also need to think about the future development of these infrastructures, despite the high performance systems already in existence. blockchain - based technologies must be integrated in such a way that they provide added value. indeed, as entrepreneur and politician philip rosenthal once said : " he who ceases to be better, ceases to be good ". from the perspective of oversight, we need to keep a careful watch on current developments and intervene if necessary. a deep technical understanding is necessary in order to respond appropriately to new business models from a regulatory perspective. the two decisive criteria that we need to measure distributed ledger and other new technologies by are the following. first, does using the new technology improve the security of the systems or at least not make it worse? and second, does the use of new technologies increase the efficiency of financial market infrastructures? 3. current developments and outlook many enterprises and institutions currently working on blockchain - based solutions expect to reap great benefits from them. blockchain technology holds out the promise of cost savings, derisking potential and efficiency gains. this includes, among other things, the automation of worksharing processes as well as faster processing and the fulfilment of contractual obligations via smart contract solutions. one positive effect that can already be seen is industry - wide cooperation. dialogue between various market participants on future market developments can foster mutual understanding and facilitate the harmonisation of processes. this makes it possible to adequately react to the challenges posed by new technologies. this is of importance in the financial industry, in particular, which is characterised by network effects. that said, one should not simply gloss over the challenges and weaknesses posed by the technology. the requirements imposed on regulated providers cannot currently be met by blockchain technology, or can only be met with difficulty. this concerns, for example, the question of how to engineer absolute finality. furthermore, the know - your - customer requirements need to be observed and the confidentiality of transaction data must be ensured. this is also a reason why the regulatory status of blockchain technology in many countries is still unclear. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches furthermore, despite the supposedly greater resilience

but not arbitrarily ) by including some elements of direct inflation targeting. the multitude of additional information could be compressed in this sense into a formal inflation forecast. personalities the ecb statute does not seek to establish a currency standard excluding all and any room for discretionary manoeuvre. consequently, a role will be played by the personalities responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policy. that applies especially to an institution which is completely new. public controversies about the filling of top posts damage credibility. monetary union will not be additionally bolstered by a political union. the leading personalities will therefore be associated almost inevitably with their respective national states, yet in the end they are to execute a common policy, namely a single european monetary policy, and to withstand political pressure. the same applies, by the way, to the governors of the national central banks. misgivings are therefore called for if, for example, there are intentions to introduce accountability towards the national parliament. iv conclusion the maastricht treaty has largely laid the foundations for a stability - oriented monetary policy as far as the institutional arrangements are concerned. those foundations need to be complemented by an appropriate strategy and a convincing decision regarding the choice of the leading personalities. the launching of a new central bank and a new currency is accompanied by uncertainty. the associated risk premium in the interest rate can be kept down by choosing an appropriate strategy and suitable top executives. the financial markets will keep a critical eye on the ecb right from the start. the initial monetary policy course thus takes on crucial importance. some people are therefore already advising the ecb to pursue a particularly restrictive course right from the outset so as to nip any mistrust in the bud, as it were. such an uncompromising approach would inevitably give rise to tensions within the council. it is also hard to imagine that the ecb would meet with general approval for such a course among the people of europe, given the high level of unemployment. at the moment we do not even know whether there is a stable european consensus on the acceptable or optimal rate of inflation. the trend towards the convergence of inflation rates at a low level is a good omen. in a monetary union without a flanking political union, we shall simply have to wait and see whether this convergence of preferences will prove to be a lasting phenomenon. the consensus regarding the preference for stable money - the common “ stability culture ” - is all the more important as monetary union will have to survive for the fore