Testing the adequacy of risk management and internal control helps us understand the financial condition of the consolidated organization and the potential impact of consolidated risk management policies and internal controls on the operations of the insured depository institution. To implement this approach, the Federal Reserve last year began assigning a formal rating to risk management in our holding company and bank examination reports.
When comparing the euro area with other major industrialised economies, we see that the direct contribution from ICT capital increased everywhere between 1980 and 1995 and between 1995 and 2005, but remained at a higher level in the United States than in the euro area.