The ECB is strongly supportive of the various initiatives at the EU and global level and will contribute to the pertinent work. I firmly believe that the international cooperation among public authorities will continue to foster financial integration, development and stability. 6. Conclusion  Let me now briefly conclude. The financial turmoil has once again demonstrated that liquidity should not be taken for granted.
The third highlight relates to risk-reduction initiatives in the retail payment environment. The Blue Book identified several risk-reduction measures to be implemented in the retail environment. Although risk reduction is an ongoing process in the NPS, two important issues have been dealt with recently. Firstly there was the signing of new contractual agreements between the participants of each payment clearing house in the NPS.