*  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to open the high level panel on improving the efficiency and integration of post-trading arrangements in Europe and to share with you our visions for a more integrated financial post trading market. Queen Victoria once said: “Change? Why do we need change? [Things are quite bad enough as they are]”.
There are possible ways, in between pure legislative or regulatory action on the one hand, and sheer competition on the other, for promoting the integration of the financial markets. One such way is coordination within the private sector. It is a common experience around the world that where this avenue is used without endangering competition, it can produce the desirable results.