The Governing Council of the European Central Bank reacted by extending its purchases under the Securities Markets Programme from the summer onwards, reducing the official interest rates in two steps and lowering the compulsory reserve ratio by half in December. It decided to carry out two refinancing operations, in December and at the end of February, with exceptionally long, three-year, maturities and full allotment.
When completed and passed by Parliament, these pieces of legislation should help improve  the  credit  underwriting  process  and  facilitate  enforcement of loan and collateral agreements by banks and other regulated institutions. 15. Madam President, banks have adopted and are implementing  the global credit risk management and financial reporting standards.