of the information set that characterises a legal entity. and although improving the richness of the lei is important, it is arguably even more important to sponsor a more widespread use of the lei across jurisdictions. in that respect, the eu is setting a good example, representing around 60 % of leis that have been issued so far, with several regulations referencing the lei and stipulating its use. other jurisdictions too should make more use of the lei, possibly through mandatory adoption in new regulations. transparency of the otc derivatives markets let me now turn to the derivatives market. g20 leaders agreed in 2009 that all otc derivatives contracts should be reported to trade repositories as part of their commitment to reform otc derivatives markets. the aim was and remains to improve transparency, mitigate systemic risk and prevent market abuse. today, rules for trade reporting ( tr ) are in place in most jurisdictions and, worldwide, more than 90 % of trades are reported to trade repositories. trade reporting has therefore increased the transparency of otc derivatives markets for authorities with access to tr data. and it has enhanced authorities ’ ability to identify and monitor systemic risk. but despite this progress, very significant challenges remain for authorities to be able to compile and fully use tr data for their regulatory or supervisory mandates. these challenges include legal barriers to access data, lack of data format harmonisation and data quality issues. important efforts are under way in these areas to increase the use of tr data. i would like to spend a few more words on one of these challenges : data harmonisation. the cpmi and the international organization of securities commissions ( iosco ) have set up a group to take charge of developing global guidance for harmonising key otc derivatives data elements. this move followed the publication of the fsb ’ s aggregation feasibility study2 in september 2014, which described the steps to be taken so that data reported across trs can be aggregated and authorities can obtain a comprehensive view of the otc derivatives market and activity. 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the report noted that it is critical for any aggregation option that the work on standardisation and harmonisation of important data elements be completed, in particular through the adoption of the lei worldwide and the establishment of a unique transaction identifier ( uti ) and unique product identifier ( upi ). the cpmi and iosco have recently published technical guidance on the harmonisation of the uti, and they plan to

only important thing is to emphasise our readiness and our resolve to act if necessary. at the moment, that would be premature, but the risks in the world economy have grown significantly. we have had to lower our economic forecasts, and we simply want to be ready to act if the circumstances so demand. were you too optimistic with your economic forecasts in the spring? we were accused of that, but i don ’ t think so. the downward adjustment in september was not large and was mainly due to the correction in the emerging markets. the economic recovery in the euro area itself is intact. on thursday, the us federal reserve system decided not to raise interest rates. does this decision make life easier or more difficult for the ecb? the euro area is in a very different cyclical phase from the us economy. therefore, our monetary policy cycles are also not synchronised. nonetheless, we share the concerns about the prospects for the global economy. if we judged that shocks were sufficiently severe and persistent to weaken the inflation outlook for the euro area, we would not hesitate to act. how much of its growth potential did the euro area lose during the crisis? the potential had already weakened before the onset of the crisis, because productivity growth had slowed down. the crisis then made everything even worse, so today the euro area is on a much lower growth path. but monetary policy cannot change that. monetary policy can only cushion the problem by, for example, making liquidity available and thereby helping to avoid a banking crisis. monetary policy cannot create sustainable growth. for that, it is necessary to have intelligent structural reforms which strengthen the growth potential of the economy. however, that is not the task of the central bank, but of the governments. what should the latter do specifically? they must undertake structural reforms to lay the foundations for higher productivity and growth. europe needs intelligent reforms. but these reforms seem to be taking a long time. you are being too pessimistic. we can see encouraging signs in the euro area, particularly in countries like spain and ireland, but also in portugal. italy was admittedly late in starting reforms, but is now on the right track. are you also as confident about greece? the situation in greece is still difficult, but with the new programme we have made a step forwards. and will the new programme bring relief? the programme is indeed demanding, but we are convinced that the reforms will help greece to create growth again and make its way out of