To this end, the HKMA will be working with the universities and the other stakeholders to make sure they are aware of the knowledge and skills needed by the banking industry, so that graduates are prepared to thrive in this ‘brave new world of banking’. 31. For more than 50 years, HKIB has played a key role in nurturing talent and professionalism. Your membership is growing at a phenomenal rate. Your rich programme of courses, seminars and special events offers continuing professional development that is directly relevant to the transformations I have described this morning. Today’s conference is one of 4/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  the highlights of the banking year. My colleagues and I look forward to sharing with you, and learning from you as the day progresses. We wish you every success in the year ahead. 1 The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. 2 Open Application Programming Interface. 3 Environmental, Social and Governance. 4 Hong Kong Association of Banks. 5/5  BIS central bankers' speeches
We began publishing this rate on April 3 of this year, along with two other repo rates: the Tri-Party General Collateral Rate and the Broad General Collateral Rate. 18 This work complements steps by the Federal Reserve to promote greater transparency in rates in unsecured markets through enhancements to the calculation of the effective federal funds rate (EFFR) and the launching of an entirely new rate, the overnight bank funding rate (OBFR).19 I have long been a proponent of the idea that central banks are well suited to take on this responsibility. Reference rates have strong public good properties, and the private sector faces notable coordination challenges in this area. Central banks have a long history in producing such measures—recognizing that traditionally this has been for purposes related to monetary policy— 3/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  and are trusted independent parties. In my view, central banks also ultimately “own” the financial stability risks that are present when key reference rates are flawed. Better to recognize this responsibility and move proactively to mitigate such risks than to step aside and hope that someone else will take up the mantle of reform. The Federal Reserve has designed these benchmarks to be compliant with IOSCO principles, with regular review by oversight bodies and comprehensive ethics and conflict-of-interest policies for staff.20 Best practice also dictates that administrators periodically review the rates they produce to assess whether changes in the underlying markets require changes in how those rates are administered.