bruno gehrig : review of the swiss economy introductory remarks by prof bruno gehrig, vice - chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the half - yearly media news conference, geneva, 14 june 2002. * * * developments in the financial markets from a swiss vantage point, the situation on the financial markets in the first half of 2002 was predominantly influenced by the exchange rate development of the swiss franc. the appreciation against the euro, which set in after 11 september 2001, has been arrested but has failed to bring about a sustained correction of the exchange rate. moreover, the us dollar, too, has declined since april. at the beginning of june, it had fallen to its lowest level against the swiss franc in two - and - a - half years. there are several reasons for the decline of the us dollar – by approximately 7 % against the euro and the swiss franc since the end of march, by approximately 6 % vis - a - vis the yen – : imponderables of global political significance, growing doubts concerning a sustained upswing in the united states and – exacerbated by the collapse of enron – the scepticism of investors with respect to the future development of yields. the record us current account deficit is increasingly being financed by means of short - term capital flows from abroad, which, by their very nature, are volatile. against this background, high - risk investments generally showed a weaker trend. equity markets and the us dollar lost in value while the gold price, bonds and the swiss franc moved up. as may repeatedly be observed in uncertain times, higher demand for swiss francs resulted from the greater attraction exerted by our currency on foreign and particularly also on domestic investors. one of the reasons for this is the extremely high international net creditor position of our country ( 139 % of gdp ). in times of instability, swiss investors reduce the risks by investing a larger part of their holdings ( or the yields thereon ) in the home currency or by hedging their foreign - currency balances to a greater extent than previously. both strategies strengthen the demand for swiss francs. with interest rate differentials between swiss franc and foreign currency investments having widened since spring, the « price » to be paid by investors for the « safe haven » offered by the swiss franc has, however, risen. the yield differential between long - term investments in euros and those in swiss francs again amounts to almost two percentage points

matthew elderfield : single supervisory mechanism – benefits and challenges from a practical supervisory perspective introductory remarks by mr matthew elderfield, deputy governor of the central bank of ireland, at the 11th annual european financial services conference “ reshaping europe ’ s financial markets ”, organised by forum europe ltd., brussels, 31 january 2013. * * * my thanks to the organisers for the opportunity to take part in this panel. there are a number of interesting issues presented by the banking union to discuss. the starting point, as we know, has been the desire to break the destructive link between stressed sovereign finances and weak banking systems. europe is taking measures to establish the single supervisory mechanism, but i think an important issue to discuss today is the timetable and sequencing for the other essential elements of banking union. establishing operational parameters for the use of the esm for direct recapitalisation and agreeing a framework and set of national powers for resolution are urgently needed measures to make banking union a success and to resolve the financial crisis. i would argue that these need to be implemented in parallel to preparing for the operation of the ssm, with work on a european - level resolution authority to follow shortly and then european deposit guarantee arrangements to be explored at a later stage. but as the only supervisor on the panel, let me say a few introductory words about the benefits and challenges of the ssm from a practical supervisory perspective. to my mind, banking union holds out the prospect of strengthening the framework for european banking supervision, if implemented successfully. creating some distance between supervisors and the banks they regulate ( and, indeed, from the political systems of the banks they regulate ) can help improve the capacity for challenge and ensure a broader, more detached, perspective on problems. as an englishman working in ireland, i need to disclose that bringing in a foreigner to do your supervision is not, alas, the magic solution to all the woes of a banking system. but the single supervisory mechanism holds open the prospect of an institutional framework, a broader skill set and more diversity of experience that should help insulate supervisors from the pressures – subtle and direct, cultural and political – that come from long - time and close proximity to their regulatory charges and their champions. however, there are some important practical implementation challenges that flow from this new structure. let me briefly mention three of them. firstly, the fact that there will necessarily and correctly be a division of labour between national supervisory authorities and central ssm staff at the ecb raises practical questions