The importance of regional and international banks in our economies also poses risks unless we can put in place effective systems of consolidated supervision and mechanisms for resolving cross border banks in the event of a financial crisis, in a manner which avoids systemic disruption. We will hear a presentation on financial stability by officials of the IMF late this morning.
In this respect some of the issues discussed in this conference seem to me to be especially important: –  Ownership and governance shape attitudes toward risk, affecting the propensity to invest and innovate as well as access to external finance, with significant effects on firm size. They also define the “incentive scheme” under which economic agents operate within firms.