The working group’s focal points are consistent with the insights which we at the Bundesbank have gained so far and have outlined in the Stability Review as an interim assessment of the financial market turbulence. This concerns four key areas: risk management, accounting, ratings and the regulatory framework – and, therefore, in large part, issues of adequate transparency in the financial system.
Improving transparency is something in which all the parties involved in the “originate-to-distribute” model – originators, arrangers, investors and, not least, the rating agencies – must and, out of benign selfinterest, will play a part.