In these two days, discussions will focus on monetary policy, financial stability, economic modelling and forecasting, risk assessment and management, which are all traditional instruments in the central bank toolkit and need to be improved constantly. It is very important to note that, in addition to these traditional topics, the workshop will discuss research in new and important areas such as: digitalization of financial services, structural reforms, healthcare and its implication for central bank objectives and national welfare. Technological developments disrupting traditional labour, financial products and markets, and demographic developments may impose some of the most important challenges to our societies and institutions. Therefore, it is important to study and adequately understand these phenomena. In addition, we are glad and eager to discuss research findings from a number of authors who come from academia, central banks and other research institutions. The ideas and methodologies that are embedded in their research will introduce our researchers and economists to new ideas, will help them extend their research agenda, and will reveal potential opportunities of cooperation in the future. I believe that research in these and other innovative areas, like green finance, will develop further and become traditional topics in central banks’ research agenda. For this reason, I challenge our researchers to consider these trends in their future research agenda. Continuous enhancement of research topics and methodologies is a must for a central bank.

Ethics and compliance/values and rules  The nomenclature that is used in compliance to describe the company officer responsible for compliance has changed, and the change in nomenclature is a clue to revealing a material, substantive change. Twenty years ago, we called this officer the “compliance officer”, and I emphasize the singular. Over several years the title morphed, as compliance programs  1  In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation, 698 A.2d 959 (Del.Ch. 1996). BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  developed and compliance jobs multiplied, both with respect to subject matter expertise and the types of skill sets needed to make compliance programs “take”. Consequently, companies found that the compliance officer turned into the chief compliance officer, because in major companies, it took a village to get compliance done. Compliance, you see, turned from singular to plural. More recently the title has again changed. In many companies today, the title is chief ethics and compliance officer, or CECO, reflecting a salutary trend on the part of many companies to integrate ethics and compliance. Why is this happening? In my view, it is happening in recognition of the fact that it is easier to have an effective compliance program in a company that nurtures a strong ethical culture. In a recent speech, Daniel Tarullo, a governor of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, accurately observed that “culture” is a “somewhat contested academic concept”. Yet, the evidence is growing that an ethical culture produces tangible benefits, including making compliance more effective.