, whereby external ledgers – including those for securities – could connect to rtgs to synchronise transactions. this would enable ‘ atomic settlement ’, whereby the transfer of two assets is linked in a way that one asset moves if and only if the other asset also moves. this could modernise for the digital world the dvp concept that was pioneered with the rtgs - crest link, and extend it to a wide range of markets. underpinning all these enhancements is resilience, which is absolutely central to our provision of the rtgs service and will remain so. the new core rtgs settlement engine will already have even more enhanced resilience built in to ensure prompt and secure settlement in a world of new and emerging threats. as part of the future roadmap for rtgs, we are exploring how to enhance resilience further by introducing an additional channel to send and receive payments to rtgs, offering participants greater choice in how they connect to our settlement service. additional channels to rtgs would also help to reduce market reliance on any single third party for payments messaging. overall, we believe that the package of enhancements that we are developing can provide the conditions for innovative new business models to emerge. but this vision can only become a reality if industry players join us on this journey, both through co - creation and effective coordination. co - creation with stakeholders will ensure that we benefit from industry steers on the development of the individual features, as well as the strategic shaping of the rtgs future roadmap. industry input is essential as we continue to shape the future of rtgs to best meet the needs of the uk economy. drawing on our ongoing co - creation work, i would like to highlight our recently published discussion papers on access to rtgs accounts for settlement and exploring longer operating hours for rtgs. while we have not made any decision on whether to move to longer operating hours, an extension could serve as a catalyst for further innovation, help to reduce settlement and credit risk and enhance domestic and cross - border payments. i would encourage everyone with an interest to respond to both papers. finally, our achievements to date have only been possible thanks to industry co - ordination to adopt standards and to invest in necessary technological improvements. as we look ahead to opportunities to enhance and improve settlement practices in the bond market, a similar level of co - ordination and collaboration between industry and the bank will be essential. conclusion the purpose of today ’ s forum is to discuss

s balance sheet. balance sheet expansion through programmes to purchase public and private securities is unquestionably an exceptional measure, but it is not exclusive to the euro area, and has already been adopted by other central banks. between 2010 and 2014 the federal reserve, the bank of england and the bank of japan doubled the size of their balance sheets after running out of room to further reduce interest rates and after having resorted to announcing their commitment to hold official interest rates at very low levels for a sufficient time. the design and implementation of programmes to purchase public and private debt securities must not fail to take into account the institutional characteristics of the area in which they are applied. monetary policy in the united states or in the united kingdom acts in a fiscal union, which makes it easier to resolve potential problems associated with the allocation of any costs incurred by the central bank in its monetary policy operations. in this respect, the unique characteristics of the euro area meant that complex technical adjustments had to be made when designing the announced programme. the monetary expansion measures taken by central banks are unquestionably vital for achieving the objectives in terms of inflation rates and credit flow stimulation and of the financing of the economy. however, sustainably bolstering economic activity and job creation requires the monetary stimuli to be accompanied by measures in other areas. in the european case, the reform drive has to be maintained to ensure the proper functioning of the markets and fiscal policies favouring growth while at the same time meeting the commitments assumed under the stability and growth pact. position in the cycle and monetary policies of the main developed economies to conclude, i would like to refer to the different position in the cycle of the leading developed countries. in the united states, and to a lesser extent in the united kingdom, both of which are at a much more advanced stage of economic recovery than the euro area, the monetary policy debate now centres on when and how rapidly to start withdrawing part of the monetary stimulus, whereas in the euro area and in japan further stimulus measures are being introduced. this difference in cyclical position is affecting prices on the financial markets, and particularly exchange rates. in this respect, the exceptional stimulus measures announced by the ecb and the consequent easing of financial conditions in the currency area, the depreciation of the euro and the sharp drop in oil prices provide a favourable financial backdrop for the euro area and, in particular, for countries like spain that have made a tremendous effort to correct their imbalances. the benefits of the