In 2005, 4 commercial banks launched the E-switch facility to allow their customers to share their ATMs and other payment delivery channels, like point of sale terminals. These services were unheard of before the reforms and were supported by the international community. •  Commercial banks have also embarked on other initiatives including expansion programmes based on the community banking concept. This is consistent with the rural banking concept and is intended to provide financial services to those sectors of the community that are not currently serviced by the banking sector. BIS Review 72/2006  1  Your Excellency, to meet the challenges which come with an expanded banking sector and in our desire to continue modernising the overall financial sector, it has been imperative to strengthen the prudential and supervisory mandate of the Bank of Zambia. In this regard, the key initiatives that have been endorsed, with an ultimate goal of promoting safe, sound and efficient operations have included: •  The enactment and amendment of the Banking and Financial Services Acts in 1994 and 2000, respectively.
A first source is the “too big to fail” (TBTF) problem – that the Swiss banking sector has several banks with balance sheets that are large in relation to GDP. A second key source of risk resides in the substantial imbalances that have been building up in Swiss real estate and mortgage markets and the high exposure of domestically focused banks to these markets. Let me mention here that other possible system-wide sources of risk discussed on the global level, in particular those in the “shadow banking” sector, are considered less of an issue in Switzerland. One reason is that shadow banking assets in Switzerland carry low to moderate bank-like systemic risks. Another reason lies in the fact that bond funds and other investment funds, which make up 60% of shadow banking assets in Switzerland, are supervised by FINMA. 8 Switzerland has made considerable progress in addressing its two main sources of risk to financial stability. With respect to the risks stemming from the real estate and mortgage markets, a countercyclical capital buffer (CCB) has been introduced. The CCB was activated on a sectoral level in early 2013 and increased in 2014, as a complement to further administrative and self-regulatory measures aimed at increasing the resilience of the banking system and preventing excessive credit growth. Experience with this policy mix has so far been encouraging, and has flowed into the preliminary assessment indicating that these measures have contributed to a recent dampening of corresponding market dynamics.