*  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen I would like to warmly welcome you to our conference on the interaction of market and credit risk, which is being held jointly by the Research Task Force of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Journal of Banking and Finance.
We have to be aware that market-based arrangements may not be able to cope with extreme financial or longevity risks. The centre of gravity of the global pension fund industry will increasingly shift towards the Asian and other emerging-market economies, both in terms of asset allocation and business opportunities.