Mark Carney: Introduction to the Open Forum Introduction by Mr Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, to the Bank of England Open Forum, London, 11 November 2015. *  *  *  Thank you, Lord Mayor for your extraordinary service this past year and for your gracious hospitality today. Welcome, everyone, to the Open Forum. In a building that started its life in 1411 as “a little cottage”.1 And which has become the place to bring people together: Livery companies and businesses, Traders and market makers, World leaders and citizens. Today, we draw inspiration from this great tradition by gathering representatives from across civil society to discuss how to build the real markets of tomorrow. The Bank of England has a statutory responsibility to protect and enhance the stability of the financial system in the UK. Therefore, even if we don’t regulate markets per se, we have a close interest in working with others to create real markets that enjoy the trust of society whilst effectively allocating capital and risk. Markets can be powerful drivers of prosperity and security for all. Financial markets matter. By financing firms to hire, invest and expand, markets drive growth. By opening up cross border trade and investment they create new opportunities for businesses and savers. By transferring risks to those most willing and able to bear them markets help households and investors insure against the unexpected.
But I trust that those unable to be here in person are following us via the web, and will interact throughout the day. They’ll also be joined by some of the 5000 pupils from the 300 schools who watched our webinar earlier this week. After all, those students will reap the rewards and bear the consequences of financial reform. They will be the ultimate judges of our efforts. Our first speaker today has set out clearly the standards against which those judgements should be made. As he said five months ago: “Five years from now, UK financial services will be the best regulated in the world, with markets of unquestioned integrity and the highest standards of conduct. There will be more competition, more innovation and more players in retail markets – offering customers a better service. There will be new firms disrupting the status quo, and big firms raising their game in response, with Britain leading the fintech revolution.” 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Please join me in welcoming the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Honourable George Osborne to the stage, to begin the debate. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5