d., and ll. m. from the george washington university, washington, dc, one of the most distinguished universities in the us. since november 1978, he has practiced law in washington, d. c., where he is currently a partner with berliner corcoran & rowe. he has served as a consultant, counsel and lobbyist for fourteen governments, including our own, on various subjects, many relating to aspects of international criminal or enforcement law. his work for governments has included negotiating, advising and providing public relations support on international enforcement agreements. bruce has served as a consultant to the u. s. agency for international development, the british high commission, and un projects on anti - money laundering and organized crime. bruce ’ s work for private banks and corporations has involved counseling on prevention strategies, on complying with anti - money laundering requirements, on the development of due diligence procedures, and on compliance with transnational corruption laws. bruce has served as an expert witness and / or consultant on several occasions. the list of particulars is a long one. he has handled transfer of prisoner applications and advised accused and convicted persons of the operation of applicable treaties and the pros and cons bis central bankers ’ speeches of applying under them. he has been active in civil prosecution on behalf of victims of transnational crimes and torts. bruce has testified before congress in the us on the caribbean basin economic recovery act, on the u. s. government ’ s efforts to combat international tax evasion, on mutual legal assistance treaties, and on a national gambling impact study. bruce ’ s work with the executive branch of the us government includes advising on strategy for dealing with international organized crime, as well as writing, advising and lecturing on money laundering, international tax enforcement, and financial investigations. he has lectured to u. s. diplomats and staff, as well as to foreign governments and officials. since 1985, bruce has edited the international enforcement law reporter, a monthly publication which discusses developments in international criminal and related enforcement law matters. it can be viewed at http : / / www. ielr. com. he has written extensively on issues of international criminal law, in a wide variety of publications. bruce has appeared on many of the leading international media networks, and has been interviewed and quoted in the international press. to cap it all, bruce zagaris has been an advisor on international criminal law to a succession of barbadian government administrations, and has been, and continues

overs to the wider financial system and the real economy, as funding flows might recede and the cost of corporate financing might increase. against this background, we need to think about potential gaps in the current regulatory framework. in particular, we should embark on developing a macroprudential framework for the non - bank financial sector, which is still in its infancy. additional policy instruments should ensure that non - banks can sustain their financing of the real economy under different economic conditions. they should aim to mitigate risks related to procyclical risk taking and excessive leverage, liquidity and maturity transformation. one could consider macroprudential restrictions on fund leverage and additional liquidity management tools that align redemption terms more closely with the liquidity of funds ’ assets, for example. the policy tools should also provide incentives for non - banks to internalise the impact that their actions have on the rest of the financial system and the real economy. in particular, such policy tools could mitigate non - banks ’ potential to amplify exuberance in upturns and adversely affect financial and economic conditions in downturns. of course we cannot have a one size fits all approach for non - banks and we need to account for differences in balance sheet structures and business models when designing any macroprudential policy framework. but the growing size of non - bank financial institutions, their greater importance to the financing of the real economy and their interconnectedness with the rest of the system highlight the importance of developing a sound macroprudential framework for this sector. conclusion let me conclude. currently, one of the most significant vulnerabilities of euro area banks relates to their weak profitability prospects. the lacklustre outlook reflects both structural and cyclical factors. the banking system is operating with significant overcapacity resulting in persistent cost inefficiencies and competitive pressures. at the same time, the weaker cyclical momentum and associated low interest rates are weighing on bank profitability, although monetary policy accommodation has supported lending volumes. however, we need to acknowledge that banks have made significant progress in repairing balance sheets since the outbreak of the financial crisis. nevertheless, a rebalancing of the current composition of capital requirements towards a more prominent role for the ccyb could help mitigate costly economic deleveraging in downturns. non - bank financial intermediaries have grown rapidly over recent years in the euro area, which is a welcome development. but similar to banks, they are