And the integration of RegTech and SupTech allowed data from financial institutions to flow directly into regulators’ data bases in machine-readable formats through Application Programming Interfaces or APIs. Supervisory officers, who used to spend long hours poring over spreadsheets and reports – cutting, pasting, and computing – began to use automated surveillance dash boards. They are able to track on a daily basis the consolidated exposures, credit quality, value-atrisk and other indicators of the banks under their purview. They are able to carry out stress tests and simulations not only of individual banks but also network analysis of risk transference across the financial system. 3/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  Compared to just ten years ago, technology has enabled supervision to become much sharper and surveillance of systemic stability more rigorous. Managing the Risks Posed by FinTech while Harnessing its Benefits The second big theme in financial regulation over the last 20 years is the rise of FinTech. Technology has always featured in financial services. But from about 2015 onwards, there was an explosion in the application of various technologies in financial services – by both regulated entities and unregulated FinTech firms offering niche financial products. FinTech transformed the way financial services were produced, distributed, and consumed. It has brought significant benefits to consumers, financial institutions, and the economy at large. It has helped to reduce costs, manage risks better, create new business opportunities, and improve people’s lives. But like all good things, FinTech brought in its wake new risks and new challenges for regulators.

Second, the turbulent environment handicapped the money market and led to a widening of the spread, i.e. by means of an unwelcome interest rate hike. The SNB responded immediately by relaxing its lending conditions for banks. Contrary to certain suggestions, this measure was not intended as a means of increasing the amount of liquidity in circulation on a permanent basis. After all, inflationary pressure would potentially rise given such a scenario. Instead, we acted in a flexible way and adjusted our maturities in accordance with the demands in the lending market so as to provide this market with the buffer it needed. We have consequently introduced three-month loans, whereas the terms we offered previously were never longer than 30 days. We also took joint action with other central banks and provided US dollar liquidity to our counterparties – the first time we have ever taken such a step. 2  BIS Review 50/2008  The gradual tightening of lending conditions within our domestic market is a third factor, albeit one which is still to fully materialise. Indeed, the fear that the liquidity requirements of the two big banks may be having a detrimental impact on credit volumes in Switzerland cannot be excluded. However, the rest of the Swiss banking sector – which accounts for almost two-thirds of Switzerland’s domestic credit supply – posted excellent results in 2007, thereby helping to limit the burden of risk. Furthermore, our figures show that there has so far been no impact on lending growth.