Over the past few years we at the New York Fed have hosted and visited colleagues at the Bank of England, Bank of Korea, Bank of Japan, and the Bank of Mexico to exchange ideas and discuss some of our data projects. Much can be learned from sharing experiences in creating and managing new data products. The information uncovered in some countries’ well-designed data collections can help other countries to direct their own data-gathering efforts. For example, other countries are very interested in what can be learned about the household sector from credit bureau data like the CCP. We have taken suggestions for particular questions from other countries’ surveys. We can also benefit tremendously from learning through direct collaboration. In a new research project with the Dutch Central Bank, we are investigating how the interview mode affects the survey response rate and response accuracy when asking people about financial issues. More specifically, we are evaluating whether soliciting personal financial information through the Internet elicits more accurate and complete responses than securing the information through face-to-face interviews – a pattern observed in the case of other types of sensitive information. Given the increasing prevalence and popularity of web-based surveys, which are considerably less costly and provide more flexibility, the results are likely to be of relevance to any central bank considering conducting or already implementing a survey on household finances. Of course, in my brief tour, I have not even touched on the extensive regulatory data collections we undertake.
Moreover, risk appetite at domestically focused banks is still high, as is reflected in the interest rate and affordability risk exposures in their mortgage business. Stress tests carried out by the Swiss National Bank suggest that these risks are currently sustainable, thanks to good capitalisation overall. Against the backdrop of persistently low interest rates, this is welcome. In the future, too, a decisive factor for financial system stability will be the banks’ ability to maintain risk exposures at a sustainable level. The current low interest rate environment creates strong incentives to increase interest rate or affordability risk exposures in lending business. For instance, there is a public debate about whether the imputed interest rate used to assess affordability should be reduced. The level of this imputed interest rate is not set by the  Page 2/3  Berne, 15 December 2016 Fritz Zurbrügg  News conference  regulator and varies between banks. However, it does play a key role in affordability assessments. Banks typically use a rate of 5%. Let me go into this topic in further detail. While today’s period of low interest rates could well persist and the rise in interest rates might only be very gradual, mortgages generally influence borrowers’ financial situation and banks’ balance sheets over a period of decades. As such, when assessing affordability and calibrating risk exposure, long-term interest rate developments are also relevant. Despite the current pressure on interest rate margins, banks should therefore continue to take a long-term view in their risk policy.