Think of the potential gain of efficiency for a supervisor if he could take advantage of big data and artificial intelligence, for example, to analyse the huge amount of quantitative and qualitative data reported regularly to him as well as weak signals collected in the market. Or if a supervisor could turn his backward looking monitoring tools into predictive processes. Of course, supervisors are just at the beginning of the learning curve and they will clearly face a number of challenges: facing risks inherent to innovative projects, understanding the capabilities and limitations of new technologies, enhancing a modern data culture in supervision, hiring people with new and rare skills. But these challenges must be overcome because the stakes are high. And it is not only a question of efficiency: it also has to do with supervisory credibility. How can a supervisor be in a position to supervise processes based on new technologies if he has no in-depth experience of it? On the contrary, a supervisor who engages in the “suptech journey” gives a clear and positive signal to market players: he is willing to accompany an evolving sector so that supervisory methods can be adapted and remain relevant and consequently, the financial system can remain safe and trustworthy. That is clearly the road that we, at the Banque de France and the ACPR, want to take.
Davíð Oddsson: Review of the Icelandic economy Address by Mr Davíð Oddsson, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland, at the Bank’s annual meeting, Reykjavik, 31 March 2006. *  *  *  Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen: On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Iceland I welcome you all to the 45th annual meeting since the Central Bank was established on April 7, 1961. The Bank’s financial statements for the year 2005 have been ratified today by the Prime Minister. The Bank’s annual report has also been published. It includes a report on the Bank’s performance and a summary of how it has implemented its mandatory role. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board devoted part of his address to Birgir Ísleifur Gunnarsson, the former Chairman of the Board of Governors. The present Governors endorse his words wholeheartedly. In this context I would like to draw attention to two points that the former Chairman of the Board of Governors mentioned at the last annual meeting. One concerned the Bank’s forecast for inflation and the current account deficit. At that time the Bank forecast that the current account deficit would be equivalent to 12% of GDP in 2005 and inflation would be 2½% by today. Now it is clear that developments have been less favourable than was forecast and hoped. The current account deficit ended up at 16.6% of GDP and inflation is currently 4.5%.