Financial institutions, together with their staff, were at the frontline of this mobilisation: banks by distributing EUR 130 billion of state-guaranteed loans – a record in Europe, and keep up the commitment – but also insurers – and this has been less frequently mentioned – with numerous payouts on claims not covered in policies. Your teams have demonstrated remarkable operational agility. This resilience also stems from the efforts of banks and insurers who went into the crisis on a firm financial footing, with large French banking groups having almost doubled their own funds since 2008 to 15%, and insurers’ capital requirement coverage averaging 239% at end-September 2020. But although we don’t currently need to worry about their financial soundness, we still need to remain vigilant: there is still a high degree of uncertainty, which calls for the maintenance of our fiscal support measures and an accommodative monetary policy. I won’t talk about the latter today as we are in the “quiet period” before the meeting of the Governing Council on 20 and 21 January. Page 2 of 4  II. The challenges for 2021 After a few more difficult months at the start of the year, 2021 should see the end of the pandemic and the beginning of the reconstruction. And in the financial industry itself, we will need to capitalise on 2020’s resilience to meet four challenges that I shall sum up using the four cardinal points of the compass. 1/ The first, of course, is Brexit, so in the North.
New Year wishes to the Paris financial centre – Paris, 19 January 2021  Speech by François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, Chairman of the ACPR  Press contact: Mark Deen (mark.deen@banque-france.fr) and Deborah Guedj (deborah.guedj@banque-france.fr)  Page 1 of 4  This video is a first. Our New Year’s wishes this year come in a “Covid-friendly” format: virtual but very warm. I am extending them on behalf of all the women and men of the Banque de France and the ACPR. I hope that 2021 proves to be a better year for our beloved country, with the vaccines that should halt the epidemic by the second half. A better year also for you and your loved ones, with a special thought for those of our fellow citizens who have unfortunately lost someone close to them during this epidemic. 2020 was an extremely trying year in many respects, but also a year of exceptional collective mobilisation (I). We need to capitalise on that resilience to meet the numerous challenges of 2021 (II). I. The fruits of 2020: Financing of the economy and resilience of the financial system In response to the Covid crisis, public authorities – the government and central banks – rapidly deployed a “financing bridge” to help businesses, especially VSMEs, withstand the shock and protect their employees.