* * *  1 Look to the future Ladies and gentlemen, I, too, would like to warmly welcome you all to this year’s Bundesbank banking symposium. Today is a premiere for me, since it is the first time that I have the honour of hosting this event.
I would like to use this opportunity to tell you what I see, in my capacity as a banking supervisor, and what the Bundesbank sees as the key challenges facing Germany’s banking sector at the moment and in the medium term. Although acute problems tend to keep us busy on a day-to-day basis, I mainly want to identify prospects with you here today.