ECB’s Cipollone Warns of Rising Risks, Stresses Need for Greater Financial Resilience

17 September 2025

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Wednesday urged Europe’s financial sector to prioritize resilience over efficiency amid growing geopolitical, technological, and climate-related threats, warning that trust in money ultimately depends on a system that can withstand severe shocks.

In a keynote speech at De Nederlandsche Bank’s Resilience Conference in Amsterdam, Cipollone said that “money is ultimately a matter of trust” and that credibility and stability are a central bank’s most valuable assets.

He recalled moments of crisis — from former ECB President Mario Draghi’s 2012 “whatever it takes” pledge to the ECB’s swift pandemic response — as evidence that confidence can halt destabilizing spirals.

Cipollone highlighted several recent examples to illustrate vulnerability. During the Iberian Peninsula blackout in April, he noted, card spending plunged by over 40% and cash withdrawals surged as digital payments failed. Similarly, Silicon Valley Bank’s 2023 collapse showed how digital-age bank runs can unfold in hours, demanding decisive intervention to prevent systemic panic, he said.

Europe’s heavy reliance on foreign-controlled payment systems, he warned, creates strategic exposure: 65% of card payments in the euro area are processed by two non-European firms, and 13 euro area countries rely entirely on them.

“In a world where our dependencies can be used against us, independence is a precondition for resilience,” he said, echoing ECB President Christine Lagarde’s call for a “march to independence” on payments.

Cipollone also underscored cybersecurity risks—reporting a doubling of cyber incidents at significant euro area banks between 2022 and 2024—and the growing financial impact of climate change, with EU member states suffering €738 billion in losses from extreme weather since 1980.

He outlined the ECB’s dual responsibility: act as lender of last resort when markets seize up and strengthen the system in advance so such backstops are rarely needed. That included robust supervision of banks, oversight of payment and settlement systems, and maintaining a broad collateral framework and liquidity facilities, he said.

Cash, he said, remains critical as a crisis backstop, while a future digital euro would complement physical banknotes by ensuring secure payments even during major disruptions.

“Resilience is not an abstract ideal – it is what ensures households can access their money, firms can finance their investments and governments can fund essential services, even in the darkest hour,” Cipollone concluded. “By ensuring resilience, we preserve stability. By preserving stability, we sustain trust.”