Two national banking systems hold 73 per cent of the euro-area total and five banks (none of them Italian) 58 per cent. The available data do not tell us whether the risks 1  Italian banks show misalignments in the credit conversion factor and in the prudential treatment of exposures in default.
I want to update you on recent international initiatives concerning bank regulation and outline both the case for capital regulation and the risks we take when regulators go too far.