3 Today, potential limitations on the central bank's lending capacity are not nearly so pressing an issue as in Bagehot's time, when the central bank's ability to provide liquidity was far more tenuous. Bagehot defined a financial crisis largely in terms of a banking panic – that is, a situation in which depositors rapidly and simultaneously attempt to withdraw funds from their bank accounts.
1 11 / 13  BIS central bankers' speeches  1 I would like to thank Danielle Kedan for her support in preparing this speech. 2 Praet, P. (2017), “ Calibrating unconventional monetary policy”, speech at The ECB and its Watchers XVIII  Conference, Frankfurt am Main, 6 April.