It is a great pleasure for me to chair now the panel that will discuss some of key policy issues raised in the two reports presented to you earlier. We have the privilege of having four outstanding panellists with first hand experience in dealing with financial integration and stability at the highest level. Michel Barnier is since early this year European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services and before that he held various ministerial posts in French cabinets, including that of Minister of Foreign Affairs and of European Affairs. Jaime Caruana is since April last year General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements. Previously, he was counsellor to the Managing Director and Director of the Monetary and Capital Market Department of the IMF. Jaime was also Governor of the Bank of Spain, and in that capacity he served on the ECB’s Governing Council. Vikram Pandit is since end 2007 CEO of Citigroup, a truly global financial player which has a history of being present in more than 100 countries worldwide. He took the helm of Citi at a very difficult time, and since then has initiated a turnaround in the business model of the bank. Before that, Vikram had a long successful career in other financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley and Citi itself. Alessandro Profumo has been CEO of Unicredit Group since it was founded in 1997.
Jean-Claude Trichet: Financial integration, development and stability – lessons from the crisis (introductory remarks) Speech by Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, at the conference “Financial integration and stability: the legacy of the crisis”, sponsored and organised by the European Central Bank and the European Commission, Frankfurt am Main, 12 April 2010. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to this conference on financial integration and stability, jointly organised by the ECB and the European Commission. I would like to thank in particular Commissioner Barnier for participating in this event, and his services for the smooth coorganisation of it. This joint conference is an illustration of the very good cooperation that exists since a long time between the two institutions. The European Commission is in the driving seat on all what concerns financial integration. The ECB also a strong interest in this topic, because of the implications for the single monetary policy, our primary mandate, and also on financial stability and the operation of payment systems, areas where we have a statutory responsibility. The very good cooperation between our institutions has intensified in the wake of the financial crisis. Let me just mention the recommendations and guidance we developed in the course of last year on support measures for banks in difficulties. This joint work limited the risk of unilateral and uncoordinated support measures by governments and was therefore crucial in maintaining a level playing field and in preserving the Single Market.