With regard to money market funds, European regulations have made it possible to strengthen their resilience to the risk of a sudden and massive investor retrenchment, and increased liquidity and 2/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  transparency requirements have been in place since January 2018. Securitisation, which in 2008 may have appeared to be a factor for crisis propagation (via subprime lending), has been subject to new prudential rules, making it possible to better mitigate its risks while promoting the sound development of this instrument. The new European framework creates a label to identify high quality securitisation transactions, which meet the criteria for simplicity, transparency and standardisation (STS label). 1.2 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE REGULATORY CHANGES COMBINED WITH FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES’EFFORTS TO ADAPT, HAVE GENERATED TANGIBLE SIGNS OF INCREASED FINANCIAL SYSTEM RESILIENCE. For the financial system, I would like to give three examples:  (a) Significant improvement in the solvency and liquidity of banks The own funds of major French banks have almost tripled since the crisis. Their Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratios increased from 5.8% to 13.6% between 2008 and 2018. European banks have improved their short-term liquidity ratios, catching up with or even outstripping their international peers as from 2015. The long-term liquidity ratio for European banks is changing more slowly but, at the end of 2018, stood at around 110%, a level higher than that required under Basel rules. As regards insurance, the introduction of Solvency II has also resulted in an overall increase in the own funds of European insurers.

The next stage in the Saudization policy is to increase the proportion of Saudis in the new jobs that are being created by our expanding economy. The government has recently launched a program to support small-and-medium-size enterprises which will also create employment opportunities for Saudis. The forthcoming stage of the Saudiization policy will focus on increasing the share of Saudis in new posts created by economic growth. The Government has recently launched a programme for supporting small and medium size companies, thereby, new jobs will be available for Saudis. There are also a number of challenges in deepening and broadening the financial sector with significant implications for the economy. These include the creation of a viable and vibrant mortgage industry, which would have significant impacts on housing, construction, durable goods and other ancillary sectors. Also, there are initiatives in place to establish sound insurance and leasing industries. These initiatives are also aimed at enlarging the institutional investors' base that can channel resources in developing a pool of expertise, professional skills and technical knowledge in the financial sector. I wish to conclude with the observation that Saudi Arabia's economy is currently undergoing through a stage of accelerated growth in all sectors of the economy at a level and pace unprecedented in the past. The Government is spearheading this dynamic growth with its avowed policy of structural reforms and liberalization in the economy, as evidenced by its success in attracting the private sector and foreign direct investment into primarily the non-oil sectors of the economy.