yves mersch : translating a shared vision into a winning story closing remarks by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the t2s launch celebration, milan, 2 july 2015. * * * we chose to call this t2s launch celebration “ translating a shared vision into a winning story ”. listening to the speakers for the past two hours i believe the name was just right. we have heard how the t2s community transformed the shared vision of an integrated securities settlement landscape into a winning story, culminating in the launch of t2s on 22 june. stimulating views have been shared tonight and i would like to thank the speakers for presenting their perspectives on the capital markets union. it is evident that t2s, post - trade harmonisation and the csd regulation are among the elements that will be pushing this agenda forward. looking around the room i am happy to see so many familiar faces. faces of people who have been part of the project since the idea of t2s was born in 2006. the journey over the past nine years has been an inspiring one. there have been some bumps in the road, some twists and turns, but with the launch of t2s we have achieved a monumental milestone. we made the vision of a single securities settlement platform for europe a reality. i want to thank you all for your support, trust and commitment, which has enabled us to reach this first step towards an integrated, more efficient, and harmonised post - trade market in europe. in particular, i would like to take this opportunity to thank the national communities, namely the national central banks, the securities depositories and their clients, for their involvement and cooperation. moreover, i would like to thank the 4cb ( composed of banque de france, deutsche bundesbank, banca d ’ italia and banco de espana ) for developing and now also running the t2s platform. let me also acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the people at the ecb who coordinated the implementation of the project. in particular, i thank jean - michel godeffroy, who steered the t2s ship through sometimes stormy waters for many years, and marc bayle, who brought the ship to a safe harbour on 22 june 2015. and a special thanks to ms tumpel - gugerell, who was the ecb board member in charge during the project ’ s inception. a popular saying is that “ two heads are better

have committed to improve the risk - weighted capital requirements ; to establish countercyclical capital buffers ; and to introduce a global liquidity standard as well as a leverage ratio that will supplement risk - weighted capital requirements. could you elaborate a little further on these issues? what will be the implications for financial institutions? first, financial institutions will have to raise the quality, consistency and transparency of capital. tier 1 capital should be predominantly composed of common shares and retained earnings to increase its loss - absorbing capacity. a common definition of capital and appropriate disclosure of its components will be internationally established. this will contribute to increased transparency and comparability. second, a framework of countercyclical capital buffers above the minimum requirement will be introduced. the basel committee will set up appropriate indicators for the build - up and release of these buffers. measures for the conservation of capital will also be considered, such as constraints on its distribution. third, a non risk - based leverage ratio will supplement risk - based capital requirements and help to curb excessive balance sheet growth. to ensure the comparability of the leverage ratio at the global level, necessary adjustments, for instance in accounting rules, will be made. fourth, banks will be subject to a minimum global standard for funding liquidity. this new standard will include a stressed liquidity coverage ratio that will be underpinned by a longerterm structural liquidity ratio. finally, there is one more very important issue that i would like to mention. this issue is compensation. the g20 leaders endorsed the financial stability board ’ s implementation standards to align compensation with prudent risk - taking and long - term performance. the basel committee has set up a network of senior supervisors to monitor the implementation of these standards. as discussions around bank bonuses resurface, it is of the utmost importance that banks implement these standards immediately, and in time for the 2009 bonuses. i urge supervisors to ensure timely and consistent implementation. and once again i urge banks to behave responsibly in this respect and resist short - term temptation. we all have to be conscious that in the current episode, profit developments in individual institutions cannot be seen in isolation from the very large public support granted to the financial system as a whole. president trichet, are you satisfied with the results of regulation so far? yes, i am quite satisfied with the progress but the proof of the matter of course lies in the implementation. the far - reaching measures being developed by the basel committee under the