Thank you for inviting me to these beautiful surroundings! Ambitions meet reality – let me start with a dire reality. The recent financial crisis highlighted weaknesses that prevailed in the financial system. Ever since, the financial sector has been undergoing ambitious regulatory change. Even though regulation is no panacea, it is a good measure to be applied wherever weaknesses are concentrated.
To tackle these weaknesses at an international level, the G20 are pursuing a comprehensive and ambitious regulatory reform agenda. I believe it is vital to mitigate the main weaknesses of the financial system. The new rules for banks’ capital and liquidity cushions, for example, are a good start in this respect. However, this is by no means enough.