Here in Morocco, we have just completed our national strategy for financial inclusion, which will be discussed in the appropriate panel. As for regulation, we are now called to leave room for creativity and Fintech development, but at the same time, preserve and strengthen resilience of our financial systems, and protect consumers and enterprises, particularly smaller ones. To guarantee such a difficult equilibrium, risks shall be identified and classified, and the potential impacts of innovation and of the new financial activities shall be foreseen. Sometimes, central banks are required to resort to interim solutions in the absence of statutory powers, as is the case for crypto-assets. In fact, to deal with this issue, which arose in Morocco in 2017, we chose to approach it from the consumer protection angle to attract attention to the risks involved. Still, it should be made clear that we have not taken a final position on the issue. Moreover, as enterprises, we are also called to adapt ourselves to this digital transformation, starting with strengthening the capacity of our human resources in this field and reinforcing our infrastructures, mainly the information systems whose resilience to cyber criminality has become a daily concern. 9  In this regard, and as part of our 2019-2023 strategic plan, we conducted a thorough reflection in Bank Al-Maghrib and have just drawn up a roadmap for our own digital transformation.
Here again, estimates vary from one study to the other, and all agree on the same finding: a huge potential is still there to exploit. This being said, risks in the financial sector are the most varied and most important, especially in terms of money laundering, financing terrorism, cyber security, as well as protecting customers and personal data. Such risks have become major concerns both at the national and international level. For us, central banks in particular, the changes brought by the Fintech challenge us in several aspects, namely in our core functions. Now, even the monopoly of issuing currency is exposed, leading some central banks to consider the option of issuing a digital currency, and therefore reduce the costs related to conventional banknotes’ production and use, and minimize the insecurity risks involved. 6  Among the other fields concerned is financial supervision. This area is now gradually expanding as new actors and financial products have emerged, which can certainly affect monetary policy transmission. Ladies and gentlemen, The digital transformation we are facing today is primarily driven by operators and private companies that continue to invest heavily in this area and seize the opportunities and the potential it offers. Considering the important economic, financial and social implications of such a revolution, public authorities are compelled to set an adequate legal framework and provide an environment  conducive  to  technological  innovations  and  Fintech  development.