Again the earliest forms were in Renaissance Italy, where wealthy citizens were able to buy bonds and thereby invest their savings in one of the few activities that was seen as providing a significant return: war. Such instruments allowed governments (and later large corporations) to raise funds from a broader set of sources.
Today’s gathering is focused on insurance and pension funds, two very large segments of the financial markets. I am therefore very grateful to Dr Bernadino – whom I congratulate on his recent appointment as Chairman of CEIOPS – for the possibility to share some thoughts with you on the role of these segments in Europe’s financial system and its emerging supervisory architecture.