Transparency will be especially important in the join-up of the results of the stress test and the asset quality review. In my view, we should work from the bottom up wherever possible – in other words, on the basis of specific data provided by the banks. Generalised assumptions should be used as little as possible.
The creation of the new Single Supervisory Mechanism, or SSM, based at the ECB is surely the single greatest challenge we are currently facing. I am therefore particularly pleased that Danièle Nouy will be giving us a first-hand progress report today. The Bundesbank, for its part, is doing all it can to assist in the creation of the SSM.