In short, more Basel III now, rather than a hypothetical and delayed Basel IV. However, there are two issues to consider: the increased speed of deposit withdrawals connected with digitalisation and social networks - raises new challenges. None of the ideas put forward on this subject are clear-cut, but none should be taboo. Moreover, the lack of liquidity and transparency in the single-issuer CDS market must no longer give rise to systemic risks: as a first step, we must ensure a better understanding of the transactions, the participants and the correlation risk with other financial instruments. Let me now turn to supervision. Why did Credit Suisse fail despite meeting the requirements of Basel III? The answer is clear: good regulation is necessary; but it is never enough. A Highway Code - regulations -, even the best one in the world, will only be effective if the traffic police - supervisors - are efficient. Risks generated by specific business models should lead to stricter requirements. This is precisely the spirit of "Pillar 2" of the Basel framework. Supervision can and must be responsive, intrusive - including with on-site inspections -, exercised by highly qualified professionals, and applied forcefully. This is not wishful thinking: this active supervision is one of the greatest success stories of our European Banking Union. The SSM demonstrates the benefits of bringing all players under one main authority only, rather than regional ones, with clearly defined responsibilities  and  coordination.
The digital currency for a changing world Let me now turn to my second topic: the technological evolutions underway in the fields of finance and payments, which has led us, the Eurosystem, to have launched an investigation phase on a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) under the sponsorship of President Christine Lagarde and my friend and colleague Fabio Panetta. Pending an approval by the Governing Council, a preparation phase will then start at the end of this year, before a potential and gradual launch from 2027 or 2028 onwards. I am aware I am entering here a less consensual ground, listening to banks’ doubts along two arguments (i) the CBDC would be a ‘solution in search of a problem’, the ‘why?’ question (ii) and the CBDC would be a competitor to commercial bank money. The purpose: a digital banknote About the ‘why?’, I can imagine that two centuries ago, there were many voices questioning the need for a paper banknote – at that time a huge technical innovation – to be issued along the good old gold and silver coins. Today, it all  Page 4 of 6 boils down to one simple question: as everything is becoming digital, why should central bank money be the only thing to remain in paper? As many of you know, central banks have also – and fortunately so – innovation in their DNA i, keeping pace with technological disruptions.