What we will diligently protect is the trust and credibility in our financial system. We will also be paying closer attention to financial institutions’ management of cyber-threats and to new forms of financial stability vulnerabilities as digitisation blurs the boundaries across geography and industries. Recently, we have created an enhanced role of a Chief Cybersecurity Officer as well as appointed a new Chief Data Officer. I believe there is much we can share and learn from other central banks, financial regulators and even law enforcement agencies, such as our European counterparts. Looking ahead Finally, there are other areas that should matter to all of us amidst the ongoing transformations in the banking industry. One is the important issue of financial inclusion. In the quest to innovate and as banks develop the sophistication to sharpen the profile of each customer, we should not overlook the need for financial inclusion – especially access to basic banking and financial services for under-served communities. Another area is in the responsible use of technology tools. Earlier this month, MAS announced the setting up of a regulator-industry grouping to co-create a guide to promote the responsible and ethical use of AI and data analytics by financial institutions. This Committee is known by its acronym FEAT – which stands for Fairness, Ethics, Accountability and Transparency. This gives you a good idea of its mandate. The key is as technology and data analytics usage become more prevalent, the responsible use of these is equally paramount.
----------  Referring to the significant decrease of currency outside banks to total money – from 31 per cent in 2002 to 24 per cent over the present year – as an important indicator of the cash economy, it can be said that the abovementioned measures have provided their effect. However, the reduction of the informal economy remains a decisive factor in order to reach to the levels of cash in more developed economies, which is below 10 per cent. In this context, the establishment of the Credit Information Bureau, initiated some time ago by the Bank of Albania and expected to finalize over the coming year, is believed to make an overwhelming contribution to reducing the business informality in the interbank level. 4  BIS Review 101/2006