examines them from various angles, which may include evaluation of the level of interest rates and asset prices, quantitative monetary analysis making use of monetary aggregates and bank loans, interviews with financial institutions and non - financial firms, and various surveys. from the perspective of corporate financing, the bank, in a manner similar to corporate management, examines the situation based on two criteria : first, at what interest rates funds can be raised ; and second, how easily these funds can be raised, in other words, the availability of funds. let me discuss the current financial conditions facing firms from those two perspectives. first, with respect to funding rates, interest rates on bank loans remain at a low level. on the other hand, interest rates applied to funding in the market, such as issuing cp and corporate bonds, are rising reflecting growing risk aversion among investors such as investment trust companies and life insurance companies, under the influence of the turmoil in global financial markets. the issuing rates on corporate bonds have been rising especially for those with low credit ratings, and issuing rates on cp, which had been creeping up since the summer, have risen rapidly since september. although the level of these interest rates is somewhat lower than in 1998 and 1999 when corporate financing experienced a period of increased pressures, the so - called credit crunch, the pace at which these rates are rising is comparable to that in 1998 and 1999. in addition, when evaluating the level of funding rates, comparing them with corporate profitability becomes important. in japan, the ratio of funding in the market to bank borrowings is approximately one to four, giving bank borrowings the dominant share. because of this, even with the current sharp rise in issuing rates on cp, funding rates as a whole remain broadly unchanged and remain very low relative to firms'profitability. on the other hand, in 1998 and 1999, funding rates were nearly at the same level as profitability due to the sharp decline in the latter. from these points, it is clear that the current level of funding rates itself is still accommodative. nevertheless, corporate profits are under strong pressure due to the effects of earlier increases in energy and materials prices and the increased sluggishness in economic activity, which have led to a decline in profitability. this seems to indicate that the level of funding rates relative to profitability is becoming less accommodative. second, with respect to the quantitative side, the availability of funds is showing marked changes. with regard to funding in

to ensure that relationships with bigtech firms are included. this is because the potential network effects enjoyed by bigtech payment solutions and the upstream payment chain positions of these firms could create risks of competitive distortion, particularly in situations where these participants also provide hardware or software components. users could find themselves effectively captives of an ecosystem and left with no choice in terms of payment service, or at least be influenced by bigtech firms to use their services at the expense of competitors. this market power might also lead to high fees for payment transactions that could reduce the revenues – and hence the innovative capabilities – of partner banks. c. consolidate european integration and sovereignty in the area of payments the limits of europe ’ s integration and sovereignty in the area of payments have been highlighted once again by the entry of tech giants into the field of payments and the emergence of a systemically important project such as the libra / diem initiative, which could see non - european participants providing new solutions on the european market. although implementation of the single euro payments area ( sepa ) project was beneficial in supporting defragmentation for credit transfers and direct debits, non - european participants have been able to leverage regulatory harmonisation in their efforts to conquer the entire european market, whereas domestic participants have struggled to expand beyond their country of origin. meanwhile, european integration in the area of card payments has failed. the so called international card schemes exclusively manage all cross - border payments within the european union, not to mention a large share of domestic payments. this situation has created a dependency with multiple consequences. i am talking particularly about the definition and control of technical standards, financial aspects, but also challenges related to payment data, i. e. our capacity to protect these data and enforce compliance with european standards such as the gdpr, if decision - making centres are based outside europe. ii / what is the banque de france doing? 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches to help to meet these challenges, we at banque de france are focusing our activities around two main areas : 1 / support and implement regulatory frameworks and supervisory practices that promote innovation and the stability of our financial system most of the current regulatory framework predates the technological breakthroughs that we are now facing. accordingly, it makes sense to adjust the regulatory framework to these technological developments, the challenges they present and the attendant risks. the same naturally applies to our supervisory framework and methods. for this reason, we are actively involved in multilateral cooperation work, such as the