We do not dictate anything to anyone. We do not replace any government. We do not take any political decisions. We are only giving messages to Governments individually, and to the Eurogroup as a whole. This has always been our task since the setting-up of the ECB. Do you not think it was appropriate for us to tell the big countries in 2004 that they should not weaken the Stability and Growth Pact? BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Almost all experts agree that Europe must come closer together. How do you imagine the Europe of the future? I would make a distinction between the immediate future, and – after a change in the Treaty – what I would call “tomorrow” and the “day after tomorrow”. Immediately we must apply completely and rigorously the new governance which has just been approved by the Parliament and the Council. “Tomorrow” we must have the possibility to impose decisions on a country that is not applying the recommendations and, in so doing, is putting the system as a whole in danger. And “the day after tomorrow” we should have a significantly stronger political union with an executive branch and, in this executive branch, a European Finance Minister. He would be responsible for surveillance of fiscal and economic policies, for the monitoring of the financial sector and for the representation of the European economy in international institutions.
Instead, deposit money will end up in accounts held by the e-money platforms, which will become banks’ major depositors. Such large depositors may behave differently from numerous small depositors in the aggregate. Banks are also facing competition in credit intermediation. Banks have never enjoyed a monopoly in this area. Large companies can obtain credit in the bond market.10 Finance companies offer leasing to firms, and car loans and consumer credit to retail customers, often linked to a credit card.11 Here, too, the landscape is changing. Web-based solutions, greater access to information and machine learning make it possible to perform standardised credit checks quickly and efficiently, which opens up new channels for credit intermediation. Chart: Crowdfunding Some of these channels can best be described as complementary to traditional forms of financing. This pertains above all to digital platforms that channel credit from savers to borrowers, also called crowdfunding. Many of these crowdfunding platforms provide loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, which are not especially attractive to traditional financial 3/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  institutions, often because the loans are small. In the US and the UK, crowdfunding platforms represent a growing market. Their scale is also increasing in Norway, though for now, credit volumes are marginal. A trend that is becoming increasingly evident is bundling financial services with other products. Some companies combine payment solutions with securities and cryptocurrency trading. An example of this is Robinhood in the US. Others combine proprietary payment solutions with access to credit for online purchases of goods and services.