*  *  *  Introduction It is my pleasure to address this joint conference. As you know, the Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems were developed jointly by IADI, the International Association of Deposit Insurers, under the excellent leadership of Marty Gruenberg, and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
In addition, despite weakness in financial positions of firms, the environment for external funding, such as bank borrowing and the issuance of CP and corporate bonds, has remained accommodative, partly owing to private financial institutions having actively fulfilled the functioning of financial intermediation.