As banking systems around the globe implement fully the new framework, a system that was built precariously on sand will stand more firmly on rock. The system is simpler. Before the crisis, risks were hidden and financing chains were fiendishly complex. Banks were complacent, building business models on the belief that “this time is different” and assuming markets would be continuous and deep. They were enthralled by models to the extent that every bank that failed or was rescued by the state reported on the eve of their collapse that it substantially exceeded the Basel riskweighted capital requirements. Now, disclosure standards have been significantly improved, contingent exposures are on the balance sheet, essential wholesale markets are more reliable, and capital standards are more robust. The system is fairer. Banks were in receipt of large public subsidies. In Brisbane we reached a watershed in ending too big to fail, with agreements to take forward proposals on total loss absorbing capacity for globally systemic banks. Globally systemic banks that fail will in future be resolved without recourse to the taxpayer and without jeopardising financial stability. Does that mean the job of financial reform is complete? No. Implementation must follow agreement. Our perspective cannot be only to look back. Just avoiding the repeat of past failures is not a recipe for success. Agreeing to measures to fix the fault lines is necessary and important, but not sufficient.
(While these tendencies show progress, in Britain statistics reveal a decrease in the volume of transactions via cards, due to electronic transactions via mobile phone or other means.) The increasing use of electronic services such as home banking is a considerable development. Thus, in the last years, these services were more used and the users’ spectrum expanded, including not only businesses, which where the target group at the start of supplying this service, but also by individuals. At the end of 2014, the number of accounts accessible via internet stood at 145211, from 27368 at the end of 2010, followed by fourfold increase of such transactions conducted via these accounts. The encouragement of the use of payment instruments is reflected in the increase of activity of settlement and clearing systems operated by the Bank of Albania. In 2014, the activity of the Albanian Interbank Payment System (AIPS) grew by about 1.5 times, compared to the beginning of operations of this system in 2004. Also, the Albanian Electronic Clearing House System (AECH) shows a considerable increase. The value of transactions cleared in this system, during 2014, was 10 times higher than the value of transactions cleared in 2005, when this system started to operate. The measures taken by the Bank of Albania in March 2011 contributed to the use of the clearing and settlement systems. The measures consisted in the reduction of commissions applied to the users for transactions in the Albanian lek.