In addition, French national regulators are recognised for their credible action, and for being at the cutting edge of technological developments, as Geoffroy Goffinet from the ACPR will develop in more detail. Let me just briefly highlight one last course of action at the Banque de France. We have been a pioneer in central bank digital currency (CBDC): in addition to taking an active part in the work on a potential euro retail CBDC, as early as 2020 we launched a series of twelve experiments on a wholesale CBDC, both for payments and securities settlement. The first nine experiments have been very valuable, and the three experiments underway focus on cross-border payments and tokenised asset settlement. 4 We are keen to pursue our long-standing partnership with commercial banks, to reconcile innovation and security. To conclude, this stay in New York is also the opportunity for me to point out that the Statue of Liberty, which so forcefully embodies our common values, is the fruit of a tight cooperation between France and America. Let this fruitful cooperation carry on throughout the 21st century; we will be happy to welcome you in Paris. I thank you for your attention, and will now leave the floor to Olivier Vigna, deputy CEO of Paris Europlace. 1 ECB, Macroeconomic Projections, 16 March 2023 2 Eurostat flash estimate, 31 March 2023 3 Bloomberg, 22 March 2023 4 An updated report will be published by the Banque de France within next months.
Currently, we are working for this project to be transformed into regional cooperation taking into account that same banking groups operate across the entire region. According to banks reporting at end-September 2011, banking sector total assets expanded 9.5% from year start and about 13% from the corresponding period of a year earlier. The banking sector credit portfolio widened 9.6% during the year or about 15% year-on-year, constituting 49.1% of total assets. During the year, Lek-denominated loans increased more rapidly than foreign currency-denominated loans. The activity increase was sustained mainly by deposits increases, which constitute 81.4% of total liabilities. During the year, they were up 9.7% or 14.1% higher than the corresponding period of 2010. Liquidity ratios are stable and are expected to consolidate following recent regulatory requirements introduced by the Bank of Albania. As at September 2011, banking activity made a profit of ALL 1.3 billion and return on assets and capital was 0.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Capital adequacy ratio was 15.1%, better than at the end of H1 2011. This was due to capital increase by some banks, following the Bank of Albania’s requirement. These developments confirm stable public confidence in the Albanian banking sector and the significant contribution of the banking sector to fund the Albanian economy in this year. These may be considered as precious achievements while the Albanian economy and its economic agents faced with more challenges in 2011. Loan portfolio worsening and credit risk management requirements were matched by higher provisions by banks, which in turn contributed to worsened financial result.