 On a hot summer's day in Milan, a celebration event was held to mark the launch of Target 2 Securities, the single platform for security settlement in Europe. Target 2 Securities, or T2S, went live on 22nd June 2015. The event was held at the Rotonde della Bazzana, a beautiful baroque building in the heart of Milan, and home of the Milan Children's Museum. It was attended by guests from across Europe, including representatives of the EUA system and the T2S community. The title of the event, transforming a shared vision into a winning story, set the theme for the evening, as guests heard the story of the nine years leading up to the launch of the platform. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome you here today in Milano. Drawing on the creativity around me and giving this evening's theme of winning stories, I hope you will indulge me as I tell one of our winning stories, the tale of how the shared vision of Target 2 Securities became a successful European reality. In his speech, President Draghi highlighted the role T2S has played in furthering harmonisation within European financial markets. He also discussed why a capital markets union is needed in Europe. T2S provided the concrete incentive needed to drive the harmonisation process forward. The market could see that aligning their rules and practices would help them get the most out of T2S, and so they began to harmonise out of choice and not out of legal obligation. In my view, two main pillars support the establishment of the CMU, the Capital Markets Union. The twin prospects of greater risk sharing and more diverse sources of financing Target 2 Securities will form the foundation for these two pillars and for the establishment of the Capital Markets Union. Thank you. Appearing via video from Washington, Jose Vinal's of the International Monetary Fund provided the global perspective. We should not forget that the economic benefits from deeper and more integrated capital markets will be much greater if other needed structural reforms are also carried out in labour and product markets. Thank you. Mr Vinal's comments provided a fitting introduction to the panel debate on the path towards Capital Markets Union in Europe. The panellists, representing a variety of perspectives, turn their attention to the future and the possible opportunities and challenges it might bring. It's a great pleasure to be here today. I think to avoid that it becomes too much a veteran meeting, I think the organisers have chosen the Children's Museum because it should have also a future-oriented aspect. The panellists discussed what further action would be needed to make the Capital Markets Union a success. Collateral, we need it. If you don't have it, you borrow it. I think the next wave on the regulatory side, what I see is looking to make it more efficient. Now the challenge is going to be to have the vision, which is large enough and exciting enough for member states to see that they can participate much more in an integrated way. For me, the biggest issue right now is the demographics of Europe and pensions and how people are going to have sustainable income in their old age. So how do we get people culturally to find it much more acceptable to participate in the Capital Markets with at least some of their savings pot? The panel also shared their views on how Europe can be competitive in a global context. What Europe is doing today, building a single pool of liquidity with efficient collateral management, with the Banking Union, with prudential regulation, as well as securities and conduct regulation, moving towards an harmonized process. So it's about improving our competitiveness. So how can we efficiently connect, for example, with Chinese business, with Chinese Capital Markets, if we remain fragmented? ECB Board Member, Eve Merch, closed by recap of the T2S story. That is also why many believe that the post-trade harmonization effort that has come alongside the launch of T2S might have been the biggest benefit of this project. The launch of T2S is a great achievement. Europe with T2S now has a big story. And I am confident that the story of its development will continue to be a winning one. What I am sure of today is that the story of T2S is successful because of each and every one of you. Thank you for listening. The guests were then invited to call off in the garden with a drink, where they had the chance to toast the launch of the new settlement platform and discuss some of the issues brought up during the event. The T2S story is truly a winning one, but it is not yet over. For the next two years, the 17 remaining markets will join the platform and as other markets see the benefits that T2S will bring, there is every possibility that T2S will grow even further to include other currencies and markets. So with the platform that cuts settlement costs, furthers harmonization in Europe, increases financial stability and fosters competition, there was no doubt that this was indeed an achievement worth celebrating.