in my opinion, are under way in society, and on the type of influence that these changes may exert on the banking business model and on our actions as supervisors. validity of the role of banks while the height of the crisis is now some way behind us, we continue having to deal with its consequences. every day the headlines report some news on the legacy of the crisis. being a banker or, more modestly, working in the banking industry has now lost a lot of popularity. and something similar can be said about working at the banking supervisor. we have to acknowledge that our work has lost out in terms of repute, and we must reflect and work hard to recover this. naturally, the crisis and its consequences, which we continue to experience, largely explain this change in attitude. yet it is fair to say that the criticism levelled at the banking sector is, on many occasions, somewhat contradictory. public opinion shifts rapidly from criticising banks for their mistakes – frequently, for the mistakes “ inherited ” from banks that disappeared some time back – to criticising them for not sufficiently easing the way for 4 / 13 credit to reach economic agents ; indeed, for the risk of financial exclusion stemming from potential branch closures. like the song, it would seem we can ’ t live with or without them. but the truth is, with or without criticism, the role of banks remains as essential today for our economy as it was 20 or 30 years ago. however, debate has arisen over the future role of banks, set against the emergence on the scene of the so - called fintech. this can be seen as a threat or as an opportunity. i believe it entails both. but in any event, banks must evidently adapt their business model to technological change, as gonzalo so rightly said. if instead of looking at the small, innovative and nimble fintech, we assess the potential effect that the irruption of one of the so - called big tech may have on the system as a whole, the debate takes on a systemic dimension. in this connection, the recent announcement of the launch of the “ libra ” project, the virtual currency sponsored by facebook, has potentially systemic implications. these are so serious that supervisors, central banks and credit institutions must all evaluate the possible consequences. evidently, we must be sure that the project will not compromise the integrity of payment systems and the stability of the system as a whole. the type of regulation to which it should

01. 07. 2019 “ banks and society. looking to the future ” circulo financiero de la sociedad economica barcelonesa de amigos del pais margarita delgado deputy governor good evening. i would like to thank fundacion la caixa for their kind invitation to me to take the rostrum today at the circulo financiero. it is firstly an opportunity to address an eminently distinguished audience. but it also allows me to visit barcelona again, a city i know very well from my time as a bank supervisor and to which it is always a pleasure to return. you know better than me that circulo financiero has, throughout its long history, always offered a forum for open and frank debate on current topics. it has sought to tackle, from a constructive and european - oriented approach, the problems and difficulties we face as a society. admittedly, the challenges before us at present are most significant ones. but it is no less true that spain, throughout the history of this institution, has experienced and overcome even more turbulent times. each of these convulsive periods was seen by our society as a crisis. crisis and change the word “ crisis ” is from the greek. despite the adverse emotional reaction we all feel on hearing the word, the greek term does not necessarily have a negative connotation. the root of “ crisis ” means “ choice ”, “ dispute ” or “ decision ”. originally, then, the word “ crisis ” necessarily implied a change. but, above all, it reflected the need to act resolutely and decidedly in the face of such a change. in this respect, the world we live in is the outcome of how we have handled, reacted to, faced and resolved each of the crises we have experienced as a society. it ’ s no big revelation to state that the financial sector has recently undergone one of the biggest crises in its history. the crisis was deep - seated, lasting and, most regrettably, it had severe consequences for groups that had little or nothing to do with it arising. as banks and supervisors, we share a responsibility for what happened. we should learn from our mistakes. but, above all, we should correct whatever is needed to prevent anything like this happening again. much has changed since the global financial crisis broke in the summer of 2007. it is widely acknowledged that the banking sector has undergone far - reaching change, but supervision has