François Villeroy de Galhau: “Where there is danger, a rescuing element grows as well”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to participate in this latest edition of the Paris Finance Forum, and I would like to warmly thank Augustin de Romanet and Jean-Charles Simon for their invitation. This year, Paris has once again demonstrated its vibrancy by climbing to fourth place in the OFEX ranking of global financial centres. The fact remains, however, that this has been an unprecedented year, both for the global economy and for finance. I propose taking solace in the words of the German poet Hölderlin: “where there is danger, a rescuing element grows as well”.ii  I will outline three threats (1) before inviting us to take three winning gambles (2).

1) A pivotal year with a combination of three threats

1.1. (Geo)political unpredictability

The first threat is clearly (geo)political unpredictability, amplified this year by the shift in US policy.