François Villeroy de Galhau: Presentation of the 2023 Annual Report of the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority

Speech by Mr François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France and Chair of the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR), at the ACPR press conference, Paris, 29 May 2024.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

I am pleased to welcome you to our presentation of the Annual Report of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR – Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority), in the company of Jean-Paul Faugère, Vice-Chairman of the ACPR, Nathalie Aufauvre, Secretary General, and Alain Ménéménis, President of the Sanctions Committee.

2023 began with bank failures in the United States and the forced takeover of Credit Suisse, however, it subsequently confirmed the soundness of the French and European banking and insurance sectors, helped by the strength of our regulatory framework and supervision model. Following the rise in interest rates up until September 2023 in order to – successfully – combat inflation, we are set to reverse the interest rate cycle – most probably next week. 

Despite the rapidly evolving context, French financial institutions have continued to steer their course in terms of solvency, liquidity and profitability (I). I will then look at how to reconcile financial solidity and competitiveness, by overcoming certain excessive opposition between these two notions (II). 

I. The triangle of requirements

Let me start with the "triangle of requirements" – which is not a triangle of incompatibility but of "dynamic tension". I will go through it in an order that corresponds to successive priorities over time. [Slide 4]