of our journey. much more needs to be done regarding either the role of the ecb or esma ’ s prerogatives over eu ccps. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches both the banking union and the capital markets union are the key components of what we call with jens weidmann a genuine “ financing union for investment and innovation ” : this idea is a way of better channeling our abundant resources – our eur 340 billion savings surplus in 2018 – towards the concrete needs of the european economy : the energy transition, smes ’ equity or digital innovation. this unified branding has the merit of highlighting the purposes of this union to the general public : investment and innovation, or in other words the financing of the future. iii. some pillars of a european financial sovereignty in the longer run, we should build three key pillars of the future european financial sovereignty. first of all, the eu needs to strengthen its position as rule maker through enhanced equivalence regimes. brexit has given new momentum to this topic : a comprehensive reassessment of current equivalence regimes is essential given the scope of the relationships between the eu and the uk. beyond the issue of brexit, the review of equivalence regimes also provides an opportunity to improve them. there is a need for greater transparency in the procedure for granting equivalences, within a comprehensive institutional framework. the monitoring and control of equivalence decisions could also be improved by granting more power to esas, and by providing the european commission with more gradual options through flexible tools in the case of regulatory divergence : for example, temporary, partial or conditional lifting of equivalences. the second pillar of european financial sovereignty concerns the efficiency of retail payments and market infrastructure. regarding retail payments, while the single euro payments area ( sepa ) has proved to be successful, further convergence is still needed in response to the growing influence of major third countries ’ firms in payments solutions. in order to preserve our sovereignty, a european strategy for retail payments would be necessary, with a view to ( i ) addressing market fragmentation and promoting unified european - based solutions, ( ii ) improving the protection of payment data and ( iii ) encouraging european players to take part in the current concentration in retail payments. regarding infrastructure, the european system of central banks shouldered its responsibilities in strengthening european post - trade integration, notably through the target2securities platform. in the coming years, the set - up of a unified collateral management platform operated by the eurosystem will be

the heart of my topic. the unfortunate reality is that brexit leaves us no other choice : we must now reshape the european financial system and develop its autonomy. the euro area can already build on strong assets : an effective monetary eurosystem, the legal framework for a single financial market and essential components of a banking union. however we do not, as yet, have a “ financial eurosystem ”, made up of stronger pan - european financial institutions and market infrastructure. let ’ s be clear : there will not be a single city for the continent, but rather an integrated polycentric network of financial centres, with specialisations based on areas of expertise. a polycentric system of this nature can function, as illustrated by the united states : new york ’ s financial centre is favoured by corporate and investment banks, chicago ’ s financial centre handles futures, while boston specialises in asset management. starting with the banking union, its success depends on the completion of a robust resolution mechanism, probably even more than a full common deposit insurance scheme. regarding the backstop of the single resolution fund, in the interests of financial stability, we should consider 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches extending the maturities on the credit lines. but we will not achieve an effective and profitable banking union without cross - border consolidation in europe : there are still too many roadblocks and not enough cross - border restructuring. compared to the us market, the european banking sector remains fragmented : the market share of the top 5 european banks amounts to 20 %, compared to more than 40 % in the us. so we should aim to create a “ single banking market ”, as recently proposed by annegret kramp - karrenbauer, where genuine pan european banking groups could operate more effectively and better face foreign competition. on top of that, banking integration makes banks more resilient as it reduces their exposure to asymmetric shocks which leads to enhanced risk - sharing and a better allocation of resources. a useful step towards forming genuine pan - european banking groups could be to lower capital requirements of european subsidiaries, while safeguarding their financial position through credible cross - border guarantees provided by the parent company, which could be triggered both in normal times and in crisis situations. this would be based on european union law and enforced by european union authorities. i add the obvious, on bank regulation : it is now desirable that we stabilise visibility on total capital requirements, adding up from various origins.