*  *  *  Introduction Thank you for having me at the annual conference jointly hosted by the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (SAAJ) and Asian Securities and Investments Federation (ASIF). All the participants here have been striving for the development of securities markets, and, through such efforts, have been contributing to the sound development of Japan’s economy.
It means that the European Central Bank has to be allocated all the resources which it needs for the proper performance of the tasks entrusted to it, but that the national authorities retain competence over the tasks not assigned to it.