Central banks have a keen interest in ensuring their orderly and efficient functioning since this is essential for the smooth conduct of monetary policy and for the safeguarding of financial stability. 14  See for instance Altunbas, Y., L. Gambacorta and D. Marqués (2007), “Securitisation and the bank lending channel”, ECB Working Paper 838.
I would also welcome participants from relevant government agencies and financial institutions to attend this informative seminar. One year ago, the financial tsunami, triggered by the subprime fallout, started to take its toll on global financial markets in a scale which is unprecedented since 1930.