a minority of investors. in the case of liquidity, however, increased life expectancy, lower pension replacement rates and the greater health risks associated with living longer are all pushing french savers to adopt longer and longer investment horizons. we need to be able to offer them suitable savings products : ones that are less liquid, with or without a long - term capital guarantee, and that allow savers to benefit from the higher returns offered by equities over the long term. a crucial point is to avoid any tax distortions that might mean these products are penalised more than liquid and risk - free investments. this level playing field in terms of taxation should also apply to the companies that are financed : in other words we need to avoid making debt financing more attractive than equity financing. c ) the third focus is a precaution : it is vital that we increase transparency and provide savers with more information on the risk / return profile of their investments over different time horizons. financial intermediaries ’ role is precisely to pool individuals ’ savings, and transform safe liabilities – i. e. savings – into riskier assets – i. e. investments. but it is also the role of financial professionals to inform their customers about the type of investments they are making, including via multi - vehicle life insurance policies ( and notably unit - linked policies ). as for disintermediated financing, such as crowdfunding, which is attracting increasing numbers of savers, this is indeed a useful tool, but customers need to be informed of the risks they are taking and encouraged to diversify their assets. let me conclude with two more general remarks : – to better identify “ the various forms of savings on offer ” – the topic of today ’ s conference – we also need to look at the issue from different perspectives : a french perspective, of course, but also a european perspective, as many of the solutions we need can be found at this level. i am convinced that by combining the work of the european commission ’ s capital markets union, the juncker plan and the banking union, we can create a genuine financing and investment union within the euro area, one that benefits both savers and businesses alike. this is another promising channel for improving the allocation of household savings, the pooling of risks and the financing of the economy. – this debate on savings is both technically complex and impassioned – deservedly so as it concerns the wealth of ordinary french citizens. parliament has worked extensively on

higher than at the end of 2022 ( 247 % ). liquidity had been the big worry in early 2023 in the wake of the silicon valley bank crisis. here too, french banks demonstrated their soundness : at the end of 2023, their aggregate lcri stood at 147 %, and their nsfrii at 115 %, well above the minimum of 100 % [ slide 6 ]. image liquidity : french banks are also solid the supervisor's report does not highlight any specific vulnerability in terms of liquidity for the six main french banking groups. although deposits have shifted from sight deposits into interest - bearing deposits and regulated savings accounts, total deposits have continued to increase slightly. [ see slide 7 ] presentation of the annual report of the au … image total deposits have continued to rise consequently, there can be no doubt : french banks can be, and are in a credit - provider mind - set. this holds true for housing loans : low figures for new housing loans are now due to demand, which remains on hold but should gradually pick up again with average lending rates back down below 4 %. loans to businesses - including smes - continue to register positive growth in terms of outstandings. i now turn to the third vertex of the triangle, which is currently more of a specific challenge for french banks, namely profitability. until 2022, their return on equity ratio ( roe ) was comparable to that of other european and international banks, but since then, a gap has opened up, with a stable ratio in france but cyclically - driven increases elsewhere in europe. [ slide 8 ] presentation of the annual report of the au … image roe : a stable situation for the main french banks... indeed, during the interest rate hikes of 2023, french banks faced a steeper increase in their interest expense than in their interest income due to the specific features of our business model : i. e. the weight of regulated savings in liabilities and the predominance of fixed - rate housing loans on the asset side of the balance sheet. consequently, their net banking income ( nbi ) declined by 3 % in 2023. elsewhere in europe, a higher proportion of variable - rate loans resulted in a faster increase in returns on assets. nevertheless, french banks ’ net profit has remained stable thanks to both a diversified business model that combines substantial amounts of fees and income from market activities, and a low cost of risk : fixed - rate housing loans contribute to this