As the first economist, Aristotle, said: “equals should be treated equally and unequals unequally.” Using monetary policy to equalise the unequal risks allocative distortion. And the euro-area crisis, in particular, has highlighted the negative longterm economic impact of capital misallocation. It is also clear that central banks influence the financial markets with their instruments, whether through refinancing operations, securities transactions or other measures.
But what does that mean for the integration of the European financial markets? In other words, what role do central banks play for financial market integration? And what impact will closer integration ultimately have on monetary policy? BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  I would like to explore these questions in the next 20 minutes.