A requirement to establish trading units which are legally, organisationally and economically independent can help protect deposittakers, while at the same time allowing the advantages of Germany’s universal banking system to be retained. Indeed, there is no call to forfeit these advantages, since banking systems with fully segregated functions did not prove to be in any way superior in the financial crisis.
There have also been positive indications of economic activity in the euro area in recent business and consumer surveys. In particular, there was a further slight rise in business confidence, supported by an improvement in production expectations and a more favourable assessment of export order books, which may be seen as representing the more forwardlooking components of the survey.