Thomas Jordan: The challenges of the global economic crisis – can Switzerland master them? Summary of a speech by Mr Thomas Jordan, Vice-Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, on the occasion of a panel discussion at the Central Bank of the Republic of Austria, Vienna, 1 February 2011. The complete speech can be found in German on the Swiss National Bank’s website. *  *  *  Many countries are facing major economic challenges as a result of the financial and economic crisis. Which of these are of particular importance for Switzerland? And how can we tackle them? Switzerland is currently facing three key challenges. First, the crisis has shown that countries can encounter serious difficulties due to systemically important banks. Switzerland has two systemically important banks, in fact, these big banks are systemically important even at the global level. Thus for our country, in particular, it is essential that the stability of the financial system be sustainably reinforced. Second, the crisis has substantially changed the economic environment in which Switzerland – an economy with an extremely global orientation – operates. On the one hand, our country has to cope with the appreciation of the Swiss franc, particularly against the euro, which has come under pressure because of the sovereign debt crisis affecting certain European countries. On the other hand, the crisis has reinforced the shift in economic power towards the emerging economies.
22.02.2019  Banking Union: the challenge of going digital and being regulated Presentation of the PwC report Pablo Hernandez de Cos Governor  Let me begin by thanking PwC for their kind invitation to participate in this presentation of the Sixth Report on Banking Union. In recent years these reports have provided us with a detailed analysis of the challenges facing the Spanish financial sector as a result of having to adapt to regulatory changes and to the new institutional arrangements of Banking Union. And this against a background of far-reaching technological change, which has seen the emergence of new players (such as the fintech and the technological giants, the so-called bigtech). These agents are altering the competitive framework in some of the traditional business segments of banks. As on previous occasions, this year’s report is very complete and analyses key questions on new issues relating to regulation, to banking activity and to the environment banks face. Allow me to focus on two specific issues: the tasks outstanding regarding Banking Union and the technological challenge from a regulatory standpoint. These two issues are, moreover, interrelated. To successfully address the transformation imposed by the new competitive environment resulting from technological changes will probably require harnessing the opportunities of scale and specialisation that the integration of European financial markets offers. But to enable this process of integration it will be necessary first to remove the obstacles that continue today to block the way to the creation of Banking Union and the full Capital Markets Union.