The implementation of the Automatic Electronic Clearing House (AECH) project  After the introduction of the RTGS system for the settlement of gross payments, the payments infrastructure expanded with the Automatic Electronic Clearing House (AECH) system, which aims at reducing the processing time of small value payments considerably, encouraging as such the use of banking payments. Over the present year, significant improvements have been made in terms of the information technology and communication with commercial banks, which has been indicated by the programmes used and by the purchase of new programmes by several banks. These programmes constitute a better sustaining for the Banking Accounting Manual requirements and serve to the needs of the institution to expand the activity and introduce new services, such as e-banking. 6. The review of the legal framework related to the payment system in the country, paying a special attention to that part which supports the new payment instruments and actors in the country  The abovementioned developments in technology and information have been supported by the Bank of Albania through the formulation of the Regulation ”On the use of information technology and communication of the entities licensed by the Bank of Albania”, approved upon the Supervisory Council decision No. 32, dated 3 May 2006. This regulation will not only assist the provision of a more prudent and complete supervision of the information technology and communication used by banks, but at the same time it will help banks in their day-to-day work and in the use of this technology.

(…) With credit and money markets essentially frozen and equity prices plummeting, banks and other financial firms saw their access to funding eroded and their capital shrink owing to accumulating mark to market losses.” The Lehman bankruptcy had triggered a widespread crisis of confidence. Among other repercussions of the Lehman Brothers collapse, the above-mentioned virtually completed sale of Glitnir assets did not materialise. This kicked off the well-known chain of events. Glitnir turned to the Central Bank for assistance. Not only was the bank unsuccessful in its attempt to sell assets, it was unable to renew a bank loan that it had expected to extend without any difficulty. Ultimately, the Government decided that the Treasury should acquire a majority holding in Glitnir, but before that could be finalised, the bank collapsed. In early October, there was substantial pressure on Landsbanki’s deposit accounts in London, and the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) steadily tightened the demands it made on the bank. Landsbanki’s liquidity difficulties became insurmountable, and it was clear that rescuing the bank would not represent prudent use of the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves. The amounts involved were simply too large. By this time, only Kaupthing remained of the three large banks. In view of the prospects for Kaupthing’s liquidity, the bank was deemed likely to survive the storm. On the basis of that assumption, the Central Bank, after consulting the Government, granted Kaupthing a collateralized fourday loan that should have sufficed – as things stood then.