What did mark the post-crisis period was the financial system reform mainly with respect to the banking industry and reconsideration of central banks mandate with respect to financial stability. Financial turbulence, low yields and divergent monetary policies in the US and the EU caused asset managers to diversify and optimally balance risk and return. The global recovery has strengthened recently, but still there have been concerns with respect to its sustainability. Low productivity keeps clouding the prospects of future economic prosperity and growth, and inflation remains muted in many countries. In addition, there are geopolitical risks, risks of excessive indebtedness and financial sector resilience to potential new shocks. All of these critically relevant issues for the policy makers and asset managers will build in our agenda for today. The program will start with a keynote speech followed by four sessions. Session 1 will cover issues related to the current and prospective conjuncture of the global economy, monetary policy and the future of interest rates. Session 2 will tackle upon financial stability issues, and how well are we equipped to deal with potential turbulence. In Session 3, central bankers and asset managers will put forward their views on strategies for effective risk mitigation and how should asset managers prepare for the “new normal” in the converging monetary policies. Session 4 will focus on South East Europe and the perspectives of the region for European integration and growth. I am particularly delighted that we have prominent speakers and excellent panelists to address the topics of the conference.
Page 4/8  Zurich, 22 June 2023 Thomas Jordan, Martin Schlegel and Andréa M. Maechler  News conference  Globally active banks – observations on the crisis at Credit Suisse  As far as the globally active Swiss banks are concerned, this year’s Financial Stability Report focuses on the crisis at Credit Suisse and its acquisition by UBS. The SNB supported this acquisition, in particular, through the provision of ample liquidity assistance. In addition to its existing liquidity facilities, the SNB deployed two new instruments based on emergency law: ELA+ and the public liquidity backstop (PLB). Comprehensive lessons need to be drawn from the crisis at Credit Suisse. The goal must be to continue to strengthen banks’ resilience in order to prevent, wherever possible, a loss of confidence such as that seen in the case of Credit Suisse. If a crisis does still occur, a broad range of effective options must be available. From the SNB’s perspective, three observations are especially important here. First, compliance with capital requirements does not provide absolute protection against a loss of confidence. Credit Suisse was always fully compliant with all regulatory capital requirements, even at the peak of the crisis. Clients, market participants and rating agencies, however, were increasingly casting doubt on the bank’s fundamental resilience. They also questioned its ability to successfully implement the announced strategic transformation plan. Ultimately, Credit Suisse lost the confidence of the markets. Second, its AT1 capital instruments were written down when state support became unavoidable.