Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to address such a distinguished audience. When you invited me a few months ago, I was merely the Chairman of the French securities regulator. Today, and for the last fortnight, I am also the Chairman of the Technical Committee of IOSCO, the global organisation of securities regulators.

I have therefore decided to give today my personal views without committing IOSCO, although my participation to this Symposium, together with Dogan Cansizlar, Chairman of the Emerging Markets Committee of IOSCO, does illustrate how important it is for securities regulators to be able to rely on a sound and efficient audit profession, and to maintain a confident and fruitful relationship with the leaders of that profession.

We all have in mind the kind of earthquake, which affected the financial markets in the early years of 2000 and the seismic waves which followed, and which have not apparently melted away yet, thus provoking severe and lasting damage to investors confidence.