* * *  Introduction Free markets are the best way of organising an economy – on the whole. And the ECB is constitutionally committed to this principle. But public goods generally require some degree of regulation to protect the interests of society. Financial stability is one of these public goods, embedded in the price stability goal.
The ECB contributes to the smooth conduct of policies pursued by the competent authorities to preserve financial stability, and in the pursuit of its microprudential mandate, it has also been assigned some responsibility for macroprudential interventions.