It has, in part, required authorities to focus more than before on the internal processes and controls of these institutions and on their ability to manage risk. Only through steady and continued progress in measuring and understanding risk will our banking institutions remain vibrant, healthy, and competitive in meeting the growing financial demands of the nation while keeping systemic risk at acceptable levels.
At the same time, although labour markets have shown some further signs of improvement, unemployment remains high in the euro area and, overall, unutilised capacity continues to be sizeable.