The Swedish debate has also been stormy. Something that I feel is often disregarded in this debate, or at least underestimated, is that the Swedish repo rate is not set in a vacuum. We must take account both of the fact that global real interest rates are very low and that monetary policy abroad is highly expansionary. Both of these factors put restrictions on which monetary policy it is possible to conduct. I shall return to this shortly. Of course, it should also be remembered that the introduction of negative interest rates means a fairly marginal increase of monetary policy scope – when all is said and done, it is hardly possible to cut the rate into negative territory by several percentage points. Many central banks have also attempted to increase scope for monetary policy by purchasing various securities. It seems highly likely that this has contributed towards preventing considerably weaker economic development. But it is still not easy to determine how efficient this kind of policy actually is. Above all, it is uncertain whether it can form an adequate alternative to adjustments of the policy rate if the global level of interest rates should remain very low for an extended period. I will return to the low global level of interest rates soon. Until then, allow me just to observe that this is an important reason for why monetary policy is more difficult to conduct today than it was a decade ago.
Third parties like the media and research analysts also have a role to play. They can shine the spotlight on exemplary companies as well as highlight questionable practices. Let me cite two commendable initiatives. •  The National University of Singapore and the Business Times have developed and publish regularly a Governance and Transparency Index, which assesses and ranks companies based on their corporate governance practices and the transparency of their financial results. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  •  The Securities Investors Association (Singapore) will introduce a new corporate governance page on its website to provide investors with more information on the corporate governance practices of the top 100 companies selected through the use of a corporate governance scorecard. 15. It is also encouraging to see an increase in local media coverage of corporate governance issues. But there is one area where I believe the media can do better. Media reports following a company’s AGM tend to focus excessively on the remuneration of the CEO and the directors, with precious little commentary on the company’s performance, business strategies, or risk management. I am not suggesting that remuneration issues are not appropriate areas for scrutiny – they very much are – but we need a more holistic assessment of our companies, and the media plays an important educational role in this regard, especially for retail investors. Building board competencies 16. A second area where we need to go beyond the rules is in raising the competency levels of our Boards.