ben s bernanke : addressing weaknesses in the global financial markets – the report of the president's working group on financial markets speech by mr ben s bernanke, chairman of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, at the world affairs council of greater richmond's virginia global ambassador award luncheon, richmond, virginia, 10 april 2008. * * * in recent months, the federal reserve has been intensely focused on the continuing strains in financial markets. healthy, well - functioning financial markets are essential to sustainable growth. in particular, much experience shows that economies cannot perform at their full potential when financial conditions are such as to restrict the supply of credit to sound borrowers. we are addressing these financial strains and their potential economic consequences with a number of tools, including the provision of extra liquidity to the system and reductions in our target for the federal funds rate. even as we have worked to resolve the current crisis, however, the federal reserve has also been part of a national and international effort to draw at least some preliminary conclusions about the sources of the current turmoil as well as the implications for public policy. in my remarks today i will discuss some of these conclusions and, in the process, identify some measures that should be taken to strengthen the global financial system in light of the recent experience. in the united states, policymakers'efforts to identify the sources of the financial turmoil and the appropriate public - and private - sector responses have been coordinated through the president's working group on financial markets ( pwg ), chaired by the secretary of the treasury. the group's other principals include the heads of the securities and exchange commission ( sec ), the commodity futures trading commission, and the board of governors of the federal reserve system. with the support of the staff of the respective agencies, the pwg began to address these issues last fall, as the severity of the financial turmoil became increasingly apparent ; in mid - march, we issued a brief statement outlining our tentative conclusions and policy recommendations. 1 at the international level, the financial stability forum ( fsf ), whose membership consists of central bankers, regulators, and finance ministers from many countries, including the united states, will also soon release a report on the causes of and potential responses to the turmoil. i describe these policy development processes to underscore the cooperative nature of the enterprise, both among the u. s. authorities and between the united states and other countries. given the global nature of our financial markets and

in real time the relevant institutions in case of discovered counterfeit currencies in circulation, in the territory of albania. another institutional commitment of the bank of albania is the training and experience exchanging with the other two institutions, which are signing parties to this cooperation agreement. dear ladies and gentlemen, this cooperation agreement demonstrates the continuing commitment of the bank of albania in further strengthening the quality and security of the banknotes in circulation. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches national currency is one of the dimensions representing the albanian state, hence the bank of albania woks scrupulously to guarantee the impeccable integrity of our currency. in addition, the bank of albania through the signing of this agreement, fulfils one of the priorities for the implementation of the recommendations arising from the stabilisation and association committee, between albania and the european union for the protection of currencies from counterfeiting in compliance with the european standards. in this view, i would like to emphasize that the bank of albania remains committed in providing its contribution in the european integration process, as a modern central bank to be part of the european system of central banks ( escbs ). the regular exchange of information and periodic communications and meetings will improve the analysing of this phenomenon, enabling each party to fulfil its legal mandates in the field of prevention and protection of currency against counterfeiting. the new framework lays down a more structured and effective cooperation among institutions involved in response to developments in the field of currency protection against counterfeiting. the signing of this agreement will help the bank of albania to exercise its role for guaranteeing the financial system stability in albania and the quality of national currency in circulation. i take this opportunity, to thank the ministry of interior of albania, the prosecutor general's office and their representatives for their precious contribution in finalising this agreement and i iterate our readiness and commitment for a rather concrete collaboration in its framework. allow me to call on the public that everyone, alongside with the responsible institutions, may give their own contribution for safeguarding the confidence in our national currency, by checking the banknotes in circulation through the method : " feel, look and tilt ". this method has been part of our informing campaign undertaken in the framework of launching the new series of lek banknotes and continues to be part of our attention and daily work. a population that knows the security features of genuine banknotes is a contribution added to our institutional efforts to prevent the introduction of counterfeit