Given that our mandate requires the maintenance of price stability on an ongoing and continuous basis, rather than at any specific arbitrary horizon, the accumulation of unsustainable financial imbalances is a reason for concern, even if it only poses a threat to price stability over the longer term.
When struggling for the best possible way to organise supervision, one is caught in a dilemma between the supervisor’s need to be close to the market and the global orientation, above all, of the big market players. Equally, as far as supervision is concerned, market proximity and the need to take due account of specific national features pose a conflict of aims with cost-effectiveness.