The Italian presidency of the G8 is conducting the work to set global standards for the transparency, propriety and integrity of international economic and financial activity. The crisis has considerably broadened the consensus on the need for central banks to expressly include financial stability among their objectives; restricting their task to taking corrective action after a crisis is no longer deemed sufficient.
The idea is gaining ground that the functions of monetary policy and supervision reinforce each other. The debate on these issues is complex and far from over. In Europe the revision of large parts of the system of banking and financial supervision is already under way. The fundamental aspects of this process appear correct; in some points it needs to be strengthened.