that pose a risk. in complex it systems, in particular, even small system errors can quickly cause enormous damage. felix hufeld will address the topic of “ cyber risk ” in his presentation, so i will make just one final comment. it seems to me that an awareness of these risks does not yet exist at all levels of management at banks. they urgently need to catch up and vastly improve the protection of it systems and customer data. 5. conclusion ladies and gentlemen, my speech has dived briefly into the wave of digitalisation that has only recently gathered pace and that will inevitably carry the financial sector to new shores. everyone involved can benefit from digitalisation, but none more so than private customers in the short term. new technology and stronger competition mean businesses that are even better tailored to their personal needs. ladies and gentlemen, you must all work towards ensuring that germany ’ s banking sector does not remain a blank spot on the digital world map. from my point of view, this requires four things. • first, every bank needs a “ digital agenda ” and a flexible strategy. • second, every bank must find a balance between existing strengths and new types of banking business. • third, every bank must be aware of the problem of it security and must also pass this awareness on to its customers. • fourth, every bank must modernise its it infrastructure as necessary and ensure that the systems are secure. bis central bankers ’ speeches both we, as supervisors, and you, as representatives of germany ’ s banks and savings banks, have an interest in a banking system that is stable and profitable in the long term. learning to play by the new rules and actively shaping the process of change is essential if we are to stay on top of the wave of digitalisation. this applies not only to you, but also to the supervisors, because it is not just about detecting and taking advantage of new opportunities, it is also about recognising and limiting new risks. if we can achieve this, we will all successfully ride the wave of digitalisation. thank you very much for listening. the bundesbank ’ s 19th banking symposium is now underway. bis central bankers ’ speeches

##ities in 2005, for instance, the progressive hikes in the rate of interest in the united states at a time when monetary policy in europe was characterised by a waiting - game approach. despite these potentially destabilising factors, financial markets remained relatively calm. in currency markets, the dollar picked up in the wake of tighter us monetary policy, while the yen moved only slightly against the swiss franc. the exchange rate of the euro against the swiss franc fluctuated within a narrow range, thereby reflecting the strong convergence of fundamentals in switzerland and the euro area. over the past few months, the swiss franc has even trended downward – a decline that is hard to explain given the low rate of swiss inflation as compared to the rest of europe. if this trend were to accelerate and give rise to an excessive relaxation in monetary conditions with respect to economic developments, a normalisation of interest rates would become even more essential. generally speaking, the capacity of financial markets to absorb shocks and to cope with imbalances is one result of globalisation and the progress in financial intermediation. in addition to stimulating goods markets, globalisation has also enlarged and deepened financial markets, and is doing so to a growing extent. freedom of movement of capital is now the rule between industrialised countries and is also becoming more widespread in emerging countries. this makes it easier for the deficits of one group of countries to be financed by the surpluses of the others. in itself, the greater efficiency of financial markets is an additional factor contributing to growth, and is therefore a good thing. however, it is still possible that the continued indebtedness of some countries ( due to the substantial disparity in national savings efforts ) could dangerously weaken financial markets in the event of a crisis of confidence. the stability of global financial markets last year was a positive factor for our country, with its manifold connections to the global economy and a currency that has often suffered from external monetary turbulence. however, this high level of market stability should not be regarded as permanent. there are still major underlying risks and there is no justification for diminishing our vigilance as regards possible market instability. meanwhile, companies need to remain cautious about exchange rate risks, despite the fact that the volatility of the swiss franc has been low over the past few years. for its part, the snb is aware of the vulnerability of financial markets and takes particular care to ensure that its monetary policy is properly understood by economic agents