I would like to name three priorities or key trends here. First, I would say what we have seen in the past year showed that our implementation of the Standards must constantly adapt to changing circumstances. 16. While we all had Business Continuity Plans (BCP), these were unavoidably limited in scope. For example, we never expected that banks and their customers, as well as banking 2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  supervisors, would all be in the same situation of working remotely. Certainly we cannot predict future events, but we can say that our collective responses to COVID in terms of BCP have so far stood up to the test. That said, in order to achieve the step-change we all aspire to, and deliver better outcomes, it will be essential for governments, regulators and the private sector to continue to be adaptable in how we approach AML/CFT work. 17. I have just now provided examples of how we fully used the built-in flexibility of the risk-based approach, together with the application of technology, to deliver an effective response to some of the challenges of COVID-19. We acted quickly, and with NO change required to the standards that all of our systems are based upon. 18. At the same time, we must not simply regard FATF standards, as well as Mutual Evaluations (ME), as simply compliance-orientated or, in the case of MEs, static assessments that take place once every eight or nine years.
We live in a small open economy and are forced to import inflation through our purchases of necessities from abroad. Because of this, we must trust that our trading partners will take decisive action to bring inflation down within their own borders. Iceland is now reaping the rewards of the ironbound policy formulated during its reconstruction following the 2008 financial crisis - a policy that insisted on a secure financial system with strong lines of defence against external instability. Icelandic banks have extraordinarily strong capital in historical and international context, and they are under close financial supervision. Moreover, the news from abroad confirms that merging the Central Bank and the Financial Supervisory Authority back together at the beginning of 2020 was the right decision. The merger and, in particular, the increased power the Bank has been granted in the area of financial stability have been of vital importance in ensuring that the current fluctuations in demand, interest rates, and financial conditions do not give rise to a credit bubble or excessive risk-taking in the financial sector. Iceland carries very little household, corporate, or government debt in comparison with other countries. It is clear that these conditions provide monetary policy with full flexibility to act. There are no handcuffs here. Honoured guests: I don't know whether any of you have gotten lost in the fog, found yourselves going around in circles, and been convinced that water flows upstream. I have never gotten lost in the Icelandic outback, but I have often done so in foreign megacities.