banks involved is essential. in addition, the national bank is considering cooperating with private sector auditors. in the same way as the fbc, which works with private - sector auditors in conducting its supervisory activities, the national bank intends to use a dual system in which certain examinations may be carried out by private auditing companies. there is a particular need for such an approach in those areas in which very specific specialist knowledge is required, such as in the assessment of information security. concluding remarks two further points in conclusion : firstly, it must be emphasised that the oversight of payment and securities settlement systems is a new task for the national bank only where securities settlement is concerned. as the bank of banks, it already helps to shape financial market infrastructures and limit the systemic risks inherent in them. in both segments, however, the new law gives the national bank a more forceful range of instruments that will allow it to act more effectively and more transparently. secondly, it would be wrong to assume that the explicit mandating of the national bank to oversee payment and securities settlement systems is in response to any fundamental concerns about the reliability of switzerland ’ s financial market infrastructures. on the contrary - we believe that the swiss financial centre has infrastructures that function better than most and come out very well in an international comparison of security and efficiency. by overseeing payment and securities settlement systems, the national bank is helping to ensure that it will remain so in the future.

niklaus blattner : the task of overseeing payment and securities settlement systems introductory remarks by mr niklaus blattner, vice - chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the end - of - year media news conference, zurich, 12 december 2003. * * * with the revised national bank law, the national bank receives an explicit mandate to contribute to the stability of the financial system. this is, in particular, laid down specifically in the law in the task of overseeing payment and securities settlement systems. why does the national bank oversee payment and securities settlement systems? by overseeing payment and securities settlement systems, the national bank is supporting the security and efficiency of financial market infrastructures in switzerland. in doing so, it is helping to ensure the stability of the financial system as a whole. this stability is essential to successful monetary policy in particular, and to the economic efficiency of switzerland in general. the importance of a market economy ’ s financial system derives from the function that it fulfils. the financial system is responsible for the allocation of financial resources and risks, as well as intermediation between savers and investors. a financial system can be described as stable if it performs these tasks efficiently and its markets and institutions prove themselves to be shock - resistant. another part of a stable financial system are secure financial market infrastructures. these include, specifically, payment systems and systems for the clearing and settlement of financial instruments ( securities settlement systems ). deficient payment and securities settlement systems might potentially trigger a crisis in the system. an operational or technical system failure can delay transaction settlement so severely - or even prevent it for such a long period - that widespread credit or liquidity problems among financial institutions result. in particularly serious cases, the financial institutions concerned, and perhaps even the financial markets, are no longer able to perform their role in the economy or can do so to only a limited extent. yet on the other hand, payment and securities settlement systems also play a major part in preventing the transfer of payment or delivery problems from one participant to the others. such difficulties might also trigger a chain reaction which could jeopardise the entire system. this makes the architecture of payment and securities settlement systems all the more important, because it determines their capacity to limit the transfer of weaknesses. secure and efficient financial market infrastructures are especially important to the swiss economy, which has a large financial sector and generates significant payment flows. their significance is illustrated by the relevant figures : every day, sums amounting