position of banks during the crisis. we are approaching the sixth anniversary of the start of the crisis, so this is hardly overly hasty action. the resilience of the financial system is our objective, but this is not just for its own sake but also to support the economy and credit creation. the evidence in credit creation is so far mixed, which is not in my view a mark of the failure of policy since this operates with a lag. but it does indicate that all of us should go on looking for changes that will help. the distribution and information issues around sme lending identified by kate and her colleagues are one such area, and in my view more focus needs to be put on the consequences of debt overhangs linked to commercial property in those parts of the market where there are problems. thank you bis central bankers ’ speeches

such thing only a decade or so on from a crisis in which the british taxpayer footed the bill for one of the biggest banking disasters in history, with a financial sector around ten times the size of our economy, and with clear evidence in front of us that the post - 2008 reforms have allowed the banking system to support the economy through the covid crisis so far. you only have to ask yourself the question “ how would the financial system have fared if covid had hit in 2007? ” to appreciate this point. 1 notwithstanding the fact that the eu has introduced additional proportionality measures in its updated capital requirements regulation. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches and @ boe _ pressoffice as the host of a very large international financial centre, we also have a global responsibility to maintain high prudential standards in the uk. this is important for the bank of england ’ s objective of financial stability, but it also makes sense for industrial policy for the uk financial services industry : we want people to bring their money to the city for the right reasons, not the wrong ones, and we have no interest whatsoever in a race - to - the - bottom approach to financial regulation. and it was very good to see the chancellor making this same point clearly in his wide - ranging address to the house of commons on monday. none of that is to say that nothing will change as we leave the eu. financial regulation is constantly developing as financial services change, and it is clear that neither the eu nor the uk wishes to be shackled in lockstep with the other as these developments occur in both jurisdictions. but of course financial regulators tend to be interested in similar things, we coordinate with each other across borders constantly, and we hammer out international agreements at the financial stability board, the basel committee, and the international association of insurance supervisors in order to keep us moving forward together as we tackle issues like climate change, cyber and operational resilience. indeed, the lord mayor ’ s green horizon summit in london this week is a great example of this sort of activity. our commitment to those mechanisms of international coordination, including working closely and cooperatively with our european colleagues, will not waver with brexit – indeed we will double down on them. still, it is reasonable to ask : what will be different? i have a strong interest in this but ultimately it ’ s for the government and parliament to decide, and the treasury