*  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to be here this evening. The growing integration of Europe’s financial markets and the financial crisis of 2007–2009 have raised important questions about the design of European banking supervision.
If we had relied on effective macroprudential oversight and policy instruments back then, one can argue that the social and economic costs of the crisis would have been much lower. Crucial improvements to the financial system were needed, and are still needed, to prevent and mitigate systemic risk.