The contributions of the Reserve Banks are perhaps most visible to the public in the sphere of monetary policy. All twelve presidents attend and participate actively in the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee. What they tell the Committee about what they are hearing from their contacts helps us recognize shifting economic conditions before they are evident in the data.
There are still some options and national discretions open to Member States, which means banks can be treated differently for reasons other than the underlying risks. We see that cross-border banking has recovered elsewhere but not in Europe. European banks still lag behind in this respect.