In the context of these fundamental and far reaching changes, less attention has however been accorded to the necessary changes to the human capital development that is required for the effective participation and performance in this new financial landscape. Indeed, the talent required also needs to be transformed. These changes have also precipitated a revisit and review of education systems around the world over to address the current discontent that the education has not kept up with the changing human capital requirements of the financial services industry. The World Economic Forum has projected that “staggering” talent gaps will arise in large parts of the world by 2020, and this will have a bearing on national competitiveness while organisations compete for talent on an unprecedented scale. Managing talent has consequently become significantly more challenging and needs to be addressed with talent development. The objective is to harness the full potential of the workforce. This is particularly urgent for Asia as it emerges as an important growth centre in the global economy. With Asia’s financial services industry poised to grow rapidly, this growth must be supported by the development of capabilities among the financial industry professionals. Going forward, the investment in this core pillar will be a defining factor in the performance and the capacity of the industry to reinvent and transform and thus enhance its resilience and sustainability. The path forward needs to be guided by a strategic response to the forces that are shaping the new talent landscape.
We have little experience to go by in this area Would people use stablecoins to a limited extent, as one of a number of forms of money depending on convenience, in much the same way we use cash and commercial bank money now?15  Or would stable coins, or one particular stablecoin, become dominant, substituting for other forms of money not just for payments but also as a store of value? There is certainly the possibility with stablecoins linked to large technology and social media platforms, that it could become mainstream for people to move from holding all or much of the money now in ‘current accounts’ at banks to holding it in ‘stablecoin’ in virtual ‘wallets’ provided by non-banks. There is some experience of the ‘E money providers’ that create, issue and transfer electronic money that can be used for internet transactions. These are regulated and have to back the e-money they issue one for one with deposits in commercial banks. But while they are used by many, they have not become systemic. But they are relatively expensive for merchants and can be used only for internet transactions whereas stable-coin developers intend them to be used for all transactions. 15  10  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches  10  In such a world, and depending how and whether stablecoins were backed with other financial assets, the supply of credit to the real economy through the banking system could become weaker or indeed disappear.