standard supervisory measures and early intervention measures, for instance. as we are obliged to apply the least intrusive tool, the overlap often prevents us from taking early intervention measures. we also need to expand our toolbox to include a harmonised moratorium tool. finally, national insolvency laws need to be aligned. all this would make the single resolution mechanism even more effective. these measures will help to better contain risks in the future. however, we also have to reduce the risks we face today. non - performing loans ( npls ) currently pose one of the biggest risks to the european banking sector. they need to be dealt with first and foremost by the banks themselves. some progress has been made on this front, although more needs to be done. in addition, supervisors need to play their part. european supervisors closely monitor how banks approach npls, and in 2017 and 2018 the ecb published guidance on the subject. the aim is not only to resolve the current npl problem, but also to keep it from recurring in the future. finally, legislators also need to address the issue of npls. across the euro area, legal and judicial systems differ substantially in terms of effectiveness and efficiency when it comes to 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches dealing with npls. the time and resources required to resolve npls thus differ from country to country. national legislators should strive to improve legal and judicial frameworks. in the end, tackling npls requires a joint effort by banks, supervisors and legislators. to sum up, there are still things we can do to reduce risks in the euro area. in doing so, we will grow closer together, and that in turn will help to reduce risks further ; european banking supervision is a prime example of this. we must thus be careful not to reach a point where we neither reduce risks nor grow closer together. we have to keep moving on both fronts ; only then will we reach our destination of a more stable and prosperous european union. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

tests together with their usd correspondent banks in hong kong. on the back of the keen interest observed, i am confident that we will see sizeable flow of transactions through this link. 8. expanding the footprint of the local financial market infrastructure is a strategy actively pursued by the hkma to develop hong kong into a regional payment and settlement hub. this pvp link with thailand is the third of its kind in the region, preceded by the launch of the links with malaysia and indonesia, in 2006 and 2010 respectively. according to the latest triennial survey on global fx market activity of the bank for international settlements, the average daily turnover in fx transactions in asia increased by 27. 5 % from us $ 962 billion equivalent in april 2010 to us $ 1, 227 billion equivalent in april 2013. this is in line with the growth in the activities of the two existing cross border pvp links recorded by us. since 2010, the combined average daily turnover of the links with malaysia and indonesia has doubled, reaching a new record of us $ 5. 4 billion last month. this is equivalent to an annual growth of about 23 %. other economies in the region, especially those with significant fx transactions, can similarly be benefited from a reduction in settlement risk and increase in efficiency in the settlement of fx transactions by establishing a pvp link with the usd rtgs system in hong kong. 9. the hkma will continue to watch out for opportunities to collaborate with asian neighbours to develop infrastructural solutions to meet growing regional demand for more efficient and robust settlement solutions. 10. lastly, i would like to thank bot again for the bank ’ s commitment and professionalism leading to the successful launch of the pvp link. based on the solid foundation laid through this project, i keenly look forward to working with bot in other areas of central bank cooperation to contribute further to regional financial stability and prosperity. 11. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches