the hong kong dollar swap market also reduced notably by 32 % from hk $ 263 billion to hk $ 179 billion in the same period. while the hong kong banking sector is now faced with ample liquidity, the situation will not be permanent and we will need to find new ways to facilitate efficient interbank borrowing. development of the repo market will help to activate the money market by addressing the credit risk through the collateralized arrangement. the cross - border funding issue is particularly important to hong kong given its role as an international banking centre. 139 of the 199 authorized institutions in hong kong are either branches or subsidiaries of banking groups incorporated outside of the territory. an important function of the new service is to enable financial institutions to make use of securities held in one of the partner systems as collateral to conduct secured borrowing in the hong kong dollar or renminbi in hong kong. as an example, a bank in europe can make use of its securities held with euroclear bank or j. p. morgan to borrow hong kong dollar to meet the liquidity needs of its hong kong subsidiary. the enhanced capability of authorized institutions to manage the liquidity needs in the local currency, no doubt, will help to maintain financial stability in hong kong. bis central bankers ’ speeches the facility will also substantially strengthen hong kong ’ s role as the global hub for offshore renminbi business. being the first mover in developing offshore renminbi business, hong kong has the largest offshore renminbi liquidity pool, amounting to rmb 674 billion at the end of april 2012, and has developed a vibrant cnh market and the largest offshore rmb bond market. more foreign banks are either choosing to have a base in hong kong or are using rmb correspondent banking services provided by banks in hong kong. as at the end of may 2012, there were 196 banks participating in hong kong ’ s renminbi clearing platform. of these, 170 are foreign - owned or located overseas. at the same time, over 1, 100 renminbi correspondent accounts were maintained by overseas banks with banks in hong kong. the amount due to and due from such overseas banks amounted to rmb 128 billion and rmb 146 billion respectively. this is a clear indication that banks from around the world are using hong kong ’ s robust platform and large liquidity pool to offer renminbi services to their customers at home. as more and more companies and financial institutions conduct business and transactions in the renminbi, we will see

gent sejko : banking developments and financial market infrastructure. the role of structure, size and market infrastructure in risk mitigation and financial intermediation welcome address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the annual conference 2017 of the bank of albania, tirana, 9 november 2017. * * * your excellency mr president, honourable mr minister, dear prof. anastasakis, honourable governors, your excellencies ambassadors, dear guests and participants, i would like to warmly welcome you to the annual conference of the bank of albania. for almost two decades, the conference has become a prevalent event in the research and professional activity of the bank. our analyses and conclusions, over the years, have endeavoured to respond to many challenges and dilemmas for our national economy and beyond. thanks to the cooperation with the university of oxford, more specifically with st. anthony ’ s college, this conference has aimed, and i believe it has succeeded in doing so, at exploring and providing answers for a number of issues, which, given their nature, effect and interlinking, are present across the region of the south east europe. the theme of this year focuses on similar issues. during the day, national and international experts of the economy and finance as well as academics will analyse the latest trends and developments in the financial sector in the region, focusing on potential implications on the macroeconomic equilibrium and financial stability of each economy. the theme of the conference is relevant to both the current and the future developments. from the international perspective, it seems that the overall situation is increasingly more supportive. advanced economies, together with large emerging economies are in a phase of full recovery, underpinned mainly by the boost in aggregate demand. interestingly, the euro area, which includes most of our trading partners, is experiencing an overall positive momentum concerning economic growth, and forecasts are optimistic. there is a broad consensus that the economies of the south east europe region, in the first half of 2017, registered a satisfactory performance in terms of recovery ; in the meantime, according to key indicators, such performance is expected to strengthen further in the third quarter of this year. albania is no exception to the regional context. in the previous quarter, the economic and financial situation in albania was set on a path of constant improvement. growth and employment indicators followed an upward curve and expectations for 2018 remain positive. consumption and foreign investments have contributed positively to economic activity and are expected to