these misconceptions contribute to the fast growth of crypto - assets. and this is without even going into cybersecurity and money laundering issues. so at the moment, we are investigating with central banks worldwide what is needed to keep the risks from crypto - assets in check, and what that means for regulation. the global financial stability board, which is chaired by the president of dnb, klaas knot, is overseeing these activities. and at european level, regulatory action is already well underway. the eu has almost reached agreement on legislation aiming to ensure that crypto assets and stable coins are properly regulated and supervised. as dnb we very much support the regulation of crypto - markets, because there are risks involved in crypto's that need to be kept in check. and because of the cross - border nature of crypto's it is important that these new rules apply across the eu. so that we can protect consumers but also help market players to do business across the eu without barriers. and within the eurosystem we are conducting a project to assess the need for a digital euro, an electronic alternative for the euro banknote. this digital euro could possibly serve as a safe and stable alternative to crypto - assets. together with a few other central banks, dnb forms a pilot group that is actively investigating and experimenting with this. so – a lot is going on. and a lot of this touches the very foundations of our financial system. so i can assure you – these are very exciting times to work for a central bank and banking supervisor. at least two completely new dimensions are added to our supervisory work. first of all, we ourselves are increasingly using new technologies to improve our supervision. this includes the digitalization of our supervisory processes and using artificial intelligence. and secondly, we are increasingly working with a whole new group of supervisory partners. i already mentioned the international dimension of our work. but with the changing banking landscape, we are also reaching out to data protection and privacy authorities, to criminal prosecution authorities, and to public authorities responsible for internet governance. it is time to wrap up. the banking landscape is changing fast, and the stakes for organizations like us, de nederlandsche bank, are high. as central banks and supervisors, we have a responsibility to make sure that we can continue to keep the financial system stable and safe. we want no holes in the global financial safety net, however much it gets stretched and reshaped. to

steven maijoor : banking in the digital age - seizing opportunities, managing risks speech by mr steven maijoor, executive director of supervision of the netherlands bank, at the fsg ( the financial study association of groningen ) conference, amsterdam, 8 march 2022. * * * i am not here today to discuss world politics, of course. but i do want to stress that the financial system is not an island. it is very much interlinked with other domains in our economies and societies. i think it's good to keep this in mind when discussing the challenges financial markets face today. before diving into a few of these challenges, allow me to properly introduce the organization i work for : de nederlandsche bank. or dnb, in short. almost everyone knows we exist, almost everyone knows our name, but not everyone knows what we actually do. of course, you as finance and economics students probably know a lot more about us than the average dutch citizen. but still : what is it then what we do at de nederlandsche bank? first of all, we aim to keep inflation low and prices stable. this simply means you can buy as much with your money tomorrow as you can today. as you may have noticed – recent and less recent events have made this a challenging task. next, we supervise banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions. we do this so they can weather a rainy day and can perform their essential role in our economy, and your money is safe. we also ensure that payment systems are running efficiently and safely. whether you are shopping or just paying your coffee, it is important that the network behind it helps the money flowing smoothly and efficiently. and then there is still something called banknotes. the younger you are, the less probable you use them, but at de nederlandsche bank we also still develop and issue banknotes. and we use the newest technologies to make these banknotes more secure and resistant to wear and tear. and then finally, we do research and we advise the government. we do this on all kinds of topics – ranging from the government's budget and the housing market, to the labour market and crypto assets. of course, we don't do everything we do just on our own. contrary to what our name suggests, de nederlandsche bank has gradually, but essentially, become a european organization. we are part of the european system of central banks. this is where the ecb