has made, and will continue to make, to support the efficient working of financial markets in the euro area. price stability the first and foremost contribution that the ecb aims to make is price stability. the european system of central banks will pursue its primary objective of maintaining price stability with determination. this should facilitate the formation of price expectations by market participants and contribute to financial stability in general. this environment will be beneficial to the efficiency of savings allocation amongst the various sectors of the economy of the euro area. there are several reasons for this. first, the achievement of price stability should help to reduce the uncertainty relating to the future path of inflation. this should enhance the information content of real and financial asset prices and improve the capacity of economic agents to select investment options efficiently. second, price stability will contribute to protecting the value of savings, thereby avoiding the undesirable wealth re - distribution effects that inflation may cause. third, in the long run, increased financial stability may contribute to reducing the likelihood of occurrence of asset price bubbles. payment systems a second contribution of the ecb relates to the field of payment systems. the emi, and now the ecb, have developed the target system, which will be made available to market participants as from 4 january 1999. the system will ensure the unification of money markets in the euro area. it will reduce transaction costs for cross - border payments and greatly enhance security with regards to settlement risks and possible payment gridlocks. the ecb has also prepared, and is about to publish, a set of minimum standards which securities settlement systems should fulfil in order to be used in escb credit operations. this publication and other initiatives taken by the ecb have fostered the increased co - operation between securities settlement systems and depositories of the euro area. market rules and practices a third contribution of the ecb relates to market rules and practices. many commentators have recognised that european monetary union will contribute to the furthering of the harmonisation of market rules and practices. in accordance with the mandates given by treaties and statutes, the european monetary institute has taken, and now the european central bank takes, an active role in the promotion of adequate new market conventions and rules for the euro area, bearing in mind the principles of free competition. monetary policy framework of the ecb finally, financial markets will need to take into account the monetary policy framework of the ecb. the monetary policy framework of the ecb has been built so as to be very efficient for transmitting monetary

benoit cœure : interview in risk magazine interview with mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank and chairman of the committee on payments and market infrastructures ( cpmi ), in risk magazine, conducted by ms cecile sourbes on 10 may and published on 19 may 2016. * * * what was the outcome of the questionnaires that the cpmi and the international organization of securities commissions ( iosco ) sent to central counterparties ( ccps ) in 2015? the work done by cpmi - iosco is a response to the request made by the g20 ministers and governors to ensure that ccps are safe and resilient. the work done on risk in ccps has been set as a priority this year by the chinese presidency of the g20. risk in ccps is an important piece, and maybe even the main missing piece, of the post - pittsburgh regulatory agenda. a great deal of work has been done to make the derivatives market safer, make central clearing mandatory and improve the resilience of infrastructures – in particular through the implementation of the cpmi - iosco principles for financial market infrastructures ( pfmi ). now, it ’ s time to wrap it up, take stock of what has actually been done and consider whether this is enough or whether we need to do more. so it ’ s an important milestone. to answer your question, yes, cpmi - iosco sent a series of questionnaires to several ccps last year which covered both recovery planning and risk management practices more generally. it was a way to assess their compliance with the pfmi and the recovery guidance released in 2014 by cpmi - iosco. we have looked at the responses in depth and this has given us a good insight into how ccps have implemented the pfmi. we are now taking stock of this material and we are also working with the financial stability board ( fsb ). the outcome of this work will appear in two “ twin ” reports that will be published in early summer, presumably in july. those reports will come right in time for the g20 summit in hangzhou on 4 and 5 september. are there any areas that require further guidance? the first report will review the implementation of the pfmi across 10 derivatives ccps. we are very positive about the work that has been conducted by ccps, but we ’ ve identified shortcomings when it comes to addressing certain topics,