* * * Good morning, dear listeners, fellow Governors, I would like to thank the Governors for their insights in this panel, and also the organisers of the conference for inviting me. Discussing the role of banks in the time of COVID-19 is indeed vital. Banking is as important to the economy as the heart is to the human body.
On the other hand, the requirements of banking supervisors also shape what information is created about banking risks and risk management activities and will tend to influence bank behaviour. Such information is also an important tool used by supervisors to evaluate institutional and systemic safety and soundness.