A workshop held by the Committee on the Global Financial System earlier this year in Hong Kong also noted this difficulty. Appropriate calibration of macroprudential tools is difficult because of the lack of data and information about how the transmission process works―that is, what impact the tool will have on the targeted sector. Even assessing the impact ex post  1  Tobias Adrian, Meg McConnell and Joseph Tracy assisted in preparing these remarks. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  is challenging because it is difficult to predict how the macroeconomy and financial system would have evolved if the macroprudential tool had not been in place. Second, in the U.S., even if such a framework existed, there would still be a problem in terms of timely implementation. The U.S. regulatory structure is fragmented, so that in most cases, no single regulator is able to implement macroprudential tools in a comprehensive manner. As a result, imposing macroprudential tools in the United States would almost certainly leave significant gaps in coverage. Such coverage gaps would likely lead to distortions within the financial sector, as the tool would have differential impacts across financial intermediaries inside versus outside a particular regulatory boundary. Also, activity would migrate toward those areas outside the scope of the macroprudential tools that had been implemented. It is important to note the regulatory mandates of the numerous federal and state regulatory authorities differ considerably. Some simply may not view financial stability as an important part of their mandate.

Enriching the array of financial products and payment instruments In addition to its primary function, intermediation of funds, the banking sector has an essential role to play in providing payment services to the economy. The scale and efficiency of accomplishing this role is in proportionate correlation to the scale of financial inclusion of the population, the overall efficiency of the economy, and – why not – the level of its formalisation. In the framework of its role as overseer of payment systems, the Bank of Albania has undertaken a series of measures to further improve legal and regulatory frameworks. These improvements aim to accommodate innovative technological developments in the field of payments, enhance effectiveness by promoting competition and ensure transparency and consumer protection. Acknowledging the role of other institutions, the Bank of Albania, together with the National Payment Systems Committee, have drafted for the first time the National Retail Payments Strategy, which identified market needs and relevant measures for intervention. The goal of the Strategy is to improve the retail payment market by providing Albanian citizens with more choices for their daily transactions, in an easy-to-use cost-effective way, as well as to increase financial inclusion. The Strategy has a detailed action plan; the Bank of Albania is fully committed to its implementation. In this framework, I would like to emphasise a notable achievement, the finalisation of the draft law on “Payment services”, which transposes the Revised EU Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). The draft is currently subject to public consultations.