9 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Board invites public comment on the  framework that would more closely match regulations for large banking organizations with their risk profiles, October 31, 2018. 10 Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, 2010. 11 This assumes the official sector preferences reflect society as a whole and does not consider potential gaps  due to issues such as principal agent problems within the official sector or regulatory capture. 12 Consolidated Supervision Framework for Large Financial Institutions, SR 12–17, December 17, 2012. 13 Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Board seeks comment on proposal to simplify its capital rules for  large banks while preserving strong capital levels that would maintain their ability to lend under stressful conditions, April 10, 2018. 14 For a discussion of how rationalization of excessively complicated regulations could “morph” into a more  deregulatory posture, see Daniel K. Tarullo, “Financial Regulation: Still Unsettled a Decade after the Crisis,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 33(1), 2019 Winter, 61–80. 15 6/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  15 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Supervision and Regulation Report, November 2018. 7/7  BIS central bankers' speeches
5” while the Federal Council, in turn, “is solely responsible for the economic decisions that fall within its area of responsibility.”  8  In 2010, members of the Governing Board appeared 13 times before parliamentary commissions. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  However, central bank independence has its pitfalls. A latent threat to such independence can, in principle, always be said to exist. This threat is particularly great in times of crisis. Consequently it was right and important, during the recent crisis, for central banks around the world to work closely with governments. However, the risk now is that false expectations have been raised amongst politicians. Central banks need to remain firm and concentrate on their monetary policy mandate. While it was necessary to be close to other government authorities at a time of emergency, now that the crisis has been confined, a little more distance is in order. As I outlined at the beginning, the SNB has also taken exceptional measures in order to fulfil its mandate. In doing so, it has shown that it is prepared to make use of the independence it has been granted. What is essential here is that we are always guided solely by our mandate when making our decisions. At the same time, we are continually analysing developments and constantly drawing conclusions with a view to our future actions.