It is envisaged that more than 90% of the Spanish banking system, measured by volume of assets, will be supervised by the SSM. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Prior to the ECB effectively taking over supervisory responsibilities, a bank asset review and valuation is planned which will give rise to the requirement of a level of capital to be met by all banks subject to the review and, where necessary, to the setting up of additional coverage. It is worth noting that our banks are starting from a very reasonable level, both from the perspective of the accounting classification of their assets, and from that of asset coverage and provisioning, the result of the review conducted last year under the stress tests and of the above-mentioned recapitalisation processes. Recently, banks’ review of refinanced loans has also concluded, a process which contributes to shoring up their position ahead of the forthcoming evaluation of the quality of their assets. Likewise, and once more with a view to reinforcing the solvency of our banking system, the Banco de España has recommended that banks moderate the distribution of dividends during 2013 and that, in any event, the cash dividends paid out should not exceed 25% of attributable consolidated profit. Naturally, all banks are following this recommendation. The solvency position of Spanish banks has clearly improved in 2013. Average core capital in our banking system will stand at around 10.5% as at December 2013, more than 1 pp up on the same figure a year earlier.
As you may have guessed though, the main reason for central bank transparency is not to make your weekends more relaxing. Central bankers today pursue a policy of broad information because we believe that transparency helps us fulfil our mandate. We are convinced that monetary policy is most effective and least disruptive if it is predictable: no news on monetary policy is good news. In the following, I would like to discuss why, today, central bankers think transparency is crucial for a successful monetary policy and how the Swiss National Bank attempts to achieve transparency in practice. I shall then debate the limitations of what transparency Finally, I would like to reflect upon how transparency in monetary policy may affect the relationship between you, the journalists, and us, the central bankers. 1. The case for transparency  At the Swiss National Bank we see three main reasons to be transparent about our monetary policy. The first reason is that we count on transparency to enhance the effectiveness of our monetary policy. In the public eye, central banks may be viewed as almighty. The plain reality is, however, that our open market operations only have a direct influence on current short-term interest rates. Economic activity and thus future price developments are, however, determined primarily by the shape of the yield curve, i.e. by the expectation of future monetary actions. Transparency about how we judge future inflationary pressures enables us to guide expectations about future short-term interest rates and thus also long-term interest rates.