Christine Lagarde: The order that took centuries to build
Acceptance speech by Ms Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, for the Wolfgang Friedmann Memorial Award 2026 at Columbia Law School in New York, New York City, 20 February 2026.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
It is an honour to receive the Wolfgang Friedmann Memorial Award from the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law.
This is the first time that a central banker has received this award, which is dedicated to the memory of one of the most eminent legal scholars of his generation – as well versed in legal theory as he was in the practical realities of law.
That said, I am a central banker with 25 years of experience in private international law. So perhaps that helped me to qualify.
Looking back on my career, I have come to realise that the professions of law and central banking are not so different. Lawyers and central bankers are ultimately merchants of trust.
Both law and money are institutional systems built on trust backed by authority. Laws work because people believe in their legitimacy. And money works because people believe it will be accepted as a future means of payment and broadly hold its value.
In that sense, I am among kindred spirits this evening. Everyone here understands the importance of trust.
For that reason, you will also understand why it is so alarming when trust between nations begins to erode. We hear a great deal today about a "new world order". We are told that the old rules no longer apply, and that they were in any case merely a fig leaf – a convenient fiction that allowed the strong to dress up their interests in the language of law.