Initially we had hoped Islamic banks might be able to use our normal reserves accounts, by agreeing to forgo any interest paid – as many observant Muslim customers do on their retail bank deposits. But on further investigation this proved unworkable: reserves accounts were too intimately bound up with the concept of interest, given their core role in implementing monetary policy. And the disparity in return offered to Islamic and non-Islamic banks at higher levels of Bank Rate would have left a decidedly uneven playing field. Work therefore commenced in 2015 to assess the feasibility of establishing a standalone noninterest based facility. Recognising the limits of the Bank’s knowledge of Islamic finance, we drew 8  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches and @BoE_PressOffice  8  on the expertise of fellow central bankers across the Middle East and Asia, including those from Bahrain, Malaysia and the UAE. In light of that research, we triaged a number of potential models to gauge which might fit best with the specificities of the UK market, legal and regulatory environment. We consulted publically on those options in 2016, and again in 2017 to fine tune our intended approach.18 Today, after a long and comprehensive process, I’m pleased to announce that the Alternative Liquidity Facility will be open for business from the first quarter of 2021.
Robert Ophèle: Micro economic analysis of companies Introductory speech by Mr Robert Ophèle, Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, at the Plenary Meeting of the European Committee of Central Balance Sheet Data Offices (ECCBSO), Paris, 18–19 October 2012. *  *  *  Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you in our new conference center. I am delighted to receive so many distinguished participants to this meeting, coming from the same universe of statistical institutions or central banks – whether they are members of the Eurosystem or not – and sharing the same interest for micro economic analysis of companies. We are very happy indeed to organise this year’s ECCBSO regular meeting which will enable you to discuss in depth about the past achievements of your task forces and the prospects, drawing possibly some kind of action plans. Undoubtedly, we need to explore further a number of those issues where your Committee is fully and often very successfully involved. I am grateful that BDF can provide, in its turn, the opportunity to host this conference. As you know, Banque de France is one of the co-founders of the Committee and has always shown its commitment by actively contributing to these task forces.