These could be generated, for example, by a failure of a large and complex financial institution through payment and settlement  BIS Review 91/2001  3  systems and securities markets. We have also considered that the traditionally expressed arguments in favour of separating prudential supervision and central banking would not be very convincing in the specific euro area conditions. For instance, the concern of conflicts of interest with monetary policy and a lack of domestic accountability should not be overstated in our setting where monetary policy is centralised and supervision remains national. Still dispersed retail markets Despite the progress I have mentioned, the markets for retail financial services are still defined quite strongly along national, or even local, lines. In these markets, for instance, interest rates are based on local competitive conditions, as you know very well. However, this does not mean that there is no international competition. The fact that this Association has now existed for thirty years is a clear sign that financial institutions have already been international for a long time. Internationalisation of retail operations Until now, branches and subsidiaries abroad have been preferred to large-scale mergers as a strategy for entering foreign banking markets. The establishment of foreign branches and subsidiaries has increased steadily in the euro area. For example, the number of foreign branches of German banks in the European Union is now 59, almost double that of 1995.
Christian Noyer: Banking in the euro area Speech by Mr Christian Noyer, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, at the 30th Anniversary of the Association of Foreign Banks' Representatives, Frankfurt, 8 November 2001. *  *  *  I am very grateful for the invitation to speak to you on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Association of "Foreign Banks' Representatives in Germany". Your Association has 117 members from a large number of countries. Several of the member institutions are counted among the 30 major European banks, or among banks from elsewhere with important operations in Europe. For many banks represented by your Association, the topic of my speech "banking in the euro area" is part of day-to-day business. It is also day-to-day business for the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem as a whole, as we conduct our monetary policy operations and run the TARGET large-value payment system. The further integration of the European banking system and financial markets is in the interests of both banks and the central bank. For banks, it means the liquidity benefits of deeper and wider markets and lower costs when operating in several countries. From the central bank perspective, it enhances the efficient and consistent implementation of the single monetary policy. We already enjoy the benefits of a common euro area banking system in important respects.