Overall assessment  In conclusion, I will summarise our overall assessment of the risks to euro area financial stability. Over the past six months, the deterioration in the macro-financial environment has continued to test the shock-absorption capacity of the euro area financial system.
The profitability of euro area major banks has been eroded and the prospects for a significant turnaround in the short term are not promising. These prospects weighed on investor confidence in the resilience of already-weakened financial institutions.