I invite distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen to explore the gallery exhibition to honour the life and achievements of this great man, Governor Ismail Ali, our first Malaysian central bank governor. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches
In principle, households and companies could be granted access to digital central bank money via both a token-based and an account-based system. Broad access to digital central bank money would call the existing two-tier banking system into question. Instead of being the banker to the banks, as it is today, the SNB would act like a commercial bank, taking on the role that is currently played by the private sector. Moreover, broad access to digital central bank money could pose a threat to financial stability. Switching over from bank deposits to digital central bank money is easier than changing to physical banknotes. In a crisis situation, this could increase the risk of a bank run. Thus, overall, the implementation of this proposal would have far-reaching consequences not just for banks, but also for the entire financial system. These fundamental concerns would argue against opening up access to digital central bank money to all households and companies. Furthermore, cashless payments in Switzerland are already reliable, secure and efficient and the system is continuously being updated and refined. So from that standpoint, too, access to digital central bank money for all households and companies, whether in the form of Swiss franc tokens or sight deposits, would bring virtually no advantages. Now let’s turn to the second potential area of application for state-issued digital tokens: digital token money exclusively for financial market participants.