1, 993 inhabitants, against an average of 2, 170 for the euro area ; there are slightly fewer branches in germany, with one for every 2, 397 inhabitants, but more in france and spain, with one for every 1, 770 and 1, 493 inhabitants respectively. there is considerable scope for rationalization across the board : though the financial system in the united states has different characteristics from the european one, there are still far fewer branches per inhabitant there ( one for every 3, 900 ). it is vital to continue reviewing the network and increasing its productivity, by exploiting rather than being a victim of changes in technology, the market and customers ’ habits. * * * the recovery continues in italy, albeit gradually, thanks to the improvement in the global economy and to the expansionary stance of monetary policy. credit quality is benefiting as a result. all the banks need to take decisive steps to tackle the problem of npls : the solutions should be assessed individually. the foundations have now been laid for solving the particularly serious problems of some banks, thanks to the instruments developed and the measures adopted by the authorities. to improve their profits and contribute efficiently to financing the economy, banks must make further progress in containing costs, upgrading technologies, and streamlining their organization and branch network. updating their business model is also essential in order to provide customers with a broad and innovative range of services for asset management and corporate finance. a stronger recovery and sounder banking system are closely connected and also depend on firms, households and international markets ’ confidence in italy ’ s ability to carry forward the reforms begun in recent years. to prevent this confidence from being undermined, the country must continue resolutely on this path : by improving the efficiency of the state and of the entire public sector in lawmaking, administration, and the delivery of services to citizens ; by creating a businessfriendly environment ; and by promoting research and innovation. stability and reform are essential for development. there are no shortcuts, particularly for a country burdened with such a large public debt and such persistent structural problems. second thoughts, delays and resistance, not uncommon in some sectors including banking, risk affecting market conditions and undermining the progress achieved during the long economic crisis from which we are now, though slowly and laboriously, emerging. designed and printed by the printing and publishing division of the bank of italy

consumers new digital uses have resulted in new models that benefit consumers. open source, open data, and so on : the desire for openness resides in the name. european regulation has helped to drive this dynamic, the second payment services directive ( psd 2 ) being a prime example. viii for financial services, this openness is set to intensify in the near future with the draft financial data access regulation ( fida ). ix a gradual approach to openness and data sharing – contingent on the degree of standardisation and digitisation – should enable existing players and fintechs to reach a consensus and jointly develop guidelines and technical arrangements for sharing, while avoiding the risks of exclusion and demutualisation. this should be done as part of “ schemes ”, outside of which data sharing should not be possible, and access to which should be restricted to entities established within the eu. it is in nobody's interest for openness to turn into anarchy, or to exacerbate cyber risks. 2. in a more open world, more prone to cyber risk, a major component of systemic trust : dora bigtechs have established a dominant position in the it sphere in areas such as the cloud, to which the financial sector is increasingly turning. x by the way, the acpr has published just today a study on this topic xi and possible regulatory responses. faced with these dominant players, fintechs are even more welcome as factors that “ dilute ” risks. speaking more generally, it is obvious that cyber page 5 of 5 risks are growing in line with the increasing “ interconnectedness ” of the digital sphere – and even more so with rising geopolitical tensions. the eu regulation concerning digital operational resilience for the financial sector ( dora ), due to be applied from next january, will enable the three european authorities to directly oversee all critical it service providers. i would like to take this opportunity to welcome the recent appointment of marc andries, inspector general of the banque de france and a recognised expert in it and cybersecurity, to head up this new mission. dora will provide a major component of systemic trust thanks to a state - of - the - art regulatory framework. it bolsters third - party risk management and incident reporting for more effective cyber threat analysis, introduces mandatory penetration testing, and fosters a collective defence culture by enabling financial entities to exchange information on cyber threats within trust - based communities. dora's rigorous standards provide a guarantee