This is why I have spoken of the danger of fragmentation in payments akin to the Middle Age, with so-called “cryptocurrencies” having limited constituencies and acceptance. 3. But do we agree about the solutions? In principle yes: in order to avoid repeating past mistakes, we would need a collective momentum towards a stable and market oriented multipolar  Page 4 sur 7 International Financial System. A more multipolar IFS would help deal with the modern version of the Triffin dilemma: the supply of USD global safe assets is limited by the fiscal capacity of the US, while demand for them is bound to increase. It could also offer more monetary policy independence to Emerging Markets, by reducing the influence of US financial and real cycles spillovers. That said, the political conditions for such a major shift are not very favourable, to say the least: imagining the US, China and other major emerging economies converging today on a new IFS, while they didn’t for decades, could appear as utopian. Let me be more positive: we need to keep this concept of a more balanced multipolar system on the horizon, at least as a “creative frontier”. And we Europeans need to be active and committed on what depends on us. To move towards a more resilient global system, the euro should play a more important international role. It is a currency in a jurisdiction with solid democratic and stable institutions, including independent central banks and the rule of law.
In the area of equity-release mortgages (ERMs) we have consulted on measures to ensure that investments1 in that asset class, which is growing by more than 10% a year, are appropriately and consistently reflected in the regulatory balance sheet. We want to do this both for prudential reasons and to facilitate competition by establishing a level playing field. Our proposition is a simple one: house price growth above the risk-free rate is a risk to which ERM providers are exposed; it should not therefore be assumed and banked up-front as capital in the form of the Matching Adjustment, even if a reasonable person could expect house prices to increase in that way – instead, that benefit should be earned if and when the house price growth actually materialises. We have received many strong views in response to this suggestion, and are considering them now before reaching a final view. Good cop I will turn now to the other part of our work – areas where, as I see it, there is generally no inherent conflict and we and firms are engaged in a shared endeavour to deal with the challenges we face. You may be relieved to hear that, in my determination to be the Mansion House good cop this year, I will only touch on two examples of this – though each of them is a huge topic. Operational Resilience First, what we call ‘operational resilience’ – the ability of firms to keep going operationally as well as financially.