Three and a half years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, I can safely say that much has been done to improve the resilience of the financial system, drawing on the lessons learned during the crisis. Still, the overhaul of the regulatory and supervisory landscape is not complete: several pieces of the puzzle still have to be fitted in.
Inflation expectations held firm even at the height of the crisis, allowing us to take action to keep the markets working, support lending and avert the collapse of the economy. Money market rates were reduced to close to zero; exceptional liquidity creation measures were adopted. Without the Union, simply coordinating national decisions would not have produced such rapid and effective results.