*  *  Introduction  My colleagues and I would like to welcome you to today’s press briefing on the occasion of the publication of the December 2007 edition of the ECB Financial Stability Review. The financial stability assessment contained in the Review has been prepared with the close involvement of the ESCB Banking Supervision Committee.
Changeover Ten years after the Treaty of Maastricht, the Euro finally found its way into the pockets of 300 million Europeans. This unprecedented process - comprising the distribution of 239,000 tonnes of coins and 2 million kilometres of notes - was an outstanding logistical success. Moreover, doom scenarios predicting mass forgery, robberies and threats to public security proved wrong.