Let me begin by extending my warmest thanks for this opportunity to speak to such a prestigious assembly. I am delighted to be able to share some of my impressions of the way our markets are functioning today.
Although you have chosen not to devote a workshop specifically to the G20 as such, some of the subjects you have selected for your panels do relate to it. I am thinking, for example, of yesterday’s discussion on"coordinated global securities regulation", and also the "future of capital markets" and, in a few minutes, the "liquid and transparent markets panel". Nothing could be more logical, given that since the G20 summit in Seoul, the question of the proper working of the markets has finally been given its place on the international regulation agenda. There aretwo reasons for this:
- the new prudential standards alone cannot suffice to meet the regulation needs revealed by the crisis;
- we now know that these revised prudential standards will oblige us to turn increasingly to the markets to finance the economy; these markets must therefore operate in an optimal manner. This is not the case today and their two mainstays of transparency and liquidity are under strain.
We will now look at the reasons for this and see whether there are any solutions.
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