On its part, the Government introduced tax and rental concessions and subsidised loan programmes. The Bank of Russia took measures through the financial system to reduce people’s costs for covering their daily financial needs. 1/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  The earliest decisions made at the very beginning of the pandemic were related to loan restructuring. Both households and companies affected by the pandemic were granted loan repayment holidays. We really appreciate how quickly you approved respective laws for this. Having the capital cushion, the banking system was to act in the most responsible manner during this period. Therefore, banks also offered loan restructuring to clients who were not eligible pursuant to law. Eventually, 12% of all restructured loans to both individuals and small and medium-sized businesses were restructured according to law, and the remaining portion — under banks’ inhouse programmes. Currently, we have no concerns about the termination of loan repayment holidays. The majority of borrowers have managed to resume their scheduled repayments. Potentially bad loans are covered by banks’ capital cushions. What does this mean? This means that they do not pose any threat to banks’ stability or capabilities to expand lending, which is vital at the moment. Moreover, we granted temporary regulatory easing to banks to be able not only to restructure loans, but also to issue new ones, thus helping the economy. We allowed banks to use their accumulated capital cushions, which enabled them to issue more corporate and mortgage loans. We shifted towards accommodative monetary policy.

The report emphasises a number of advantages: •  Electronic trading systems make it possible to manage large amounts of trading-related information. This enables all trading-related processes in the financial companies to be integrated, which in turn provides opportunities for linking together the entire transaction chain (business contracts, confirmation, clearing and settlement). This is known as straightthrough-processing (STP). •  Electronic trading also enables a greater insight into the market. This can in turn make it possible to reduce any information symmetries between different players. That is, of course, a disadvantage for those who have previously profited from the imbalances, but normally benefits the system as a whole. 1  Bank for International Settlements:, [2001], "The implications of electronic trading in financial markets". Report by a working group established by the Committee on the Global Financial System of the central banks of the Group of Ten countries. BIS Review 37/2001  1  •  Another important aspect is that electronic trading enables anonymity during trading. This often has a positive effect on the markets' method of functioning and thus their efficiency. For instance, it can facilitate settlements of large positions. •  The opportunities for access to the market can also be improved, if desired. This applies both from a geographical perspective and for different types of players. An opportunity is thereby given to influence the structure of the market in that more players with different needs can be active in many different markets. This can lead to improved liquidity and greater competition.