And we must not lose sight of our collective values regarding individuals’ right to privacy. Before concluding, I would like to add a few words about Brexit. The French authorities are mobilised and committed to making Paris a leading destination for insurance undertakings. The ACPR has taken the lead with an English-language fast-track authorisation. We are holding serious and discrete discussions with various business prospects. The recent announcement by the American group Chubb, the United States’ leading property and casualty insurer, of its intention to transfer its operations to Paris demonstrates that our expertise in supervision in particular is a recognised asset. But mobilising must not mean abandoning our high standards and requirements, and Brexit cannot be an opportunity for British entities to simply set up empty shell corporations in Europe, mere company name plates, while keeping their resources in the United Kingdom. In this respect, I fully agree with the vigilance called for by EIOPA. And lastly, Brexit also brings with it certain risks, and consequently the need for contingency plans: I am thinking particularly of the French policyholders who took out insurance directly with British undertakings, and by way of symmetry, the French undertakings with commitments in the United Kingdom. Beyond what the insurance sector can do for our economy, I would like to conclude by telling you what we can do for you.
That said, the trend going forward is less favourable, calling for mobilisation  2.1  Three factors are currently raising concerns  Despite the quality of this snapshot for 2018, the outlook – the medium/long-term trend – calls for vigilance and mobilisation. Three factors are effectively weighing on the profitability of both French and European banks. The first two mainly concern retail banking: continuing low interest rates and digitalisation. The maintenance of a low interest rate environment is completely justified and necessary in light of the economic situation in the euro area. However, it is also squeezing net interest margins for retail banks, which finance themselves with deposits and not at variable rates in the market, as well as reducing returns on insurers’ investments. In the case of banks in particular, the issue should certainly not be ignored, but we also need to avoid blowing it out of proportion by claiming it is the only factor weighing on euro area bank profits. On April 10 the Governing Council explicitly said: “In the context of our regular assessment, we will also consider whether the preservation of the favourable implications of negative interest rates for the economy requires the mitigation of their possible side effects, if any, on bank intermediation.”ii Let’s allow time for this work to be done and for the necessary decision to be taken.