francois villeroy de galhau : innovation by central banks - the sooner the better speech ( virtual ) by mr francois villeroy de galhau, governor of the bank of france, at the bis innovation summit 2024, basel, 6 may 2024. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to speak today as chair of the bis at this innovation summit, especially to tackle a dilemma that all of us have to face : should we adopt new technological innovations now, or wait for them to mature further? none of us has a crystal ball : we cannot know for sure which innovations will flourish or when, nor what impacts they will have on the economy and financial sector. the electric car, for example, was first invented in the nineteenth century, only to be overtaken by gasoline cars, but these days it is back in the spotlight again. of course, as central banks, we are not innovating for innovation sake. and innovation has a cost : the closer an innovation stands to the current " technological frontier ", the higher its costs. however, as central banks, we must keep up with developments if we are to remain benchmark players. in addition to the question of when is the " right time ", this raises a more specific challenge : how to overcome the apparent innovation / stability oxymoron ( i ). i will then focus on a new high priority area : artificial intelligence ( ii ). i. central banks must innovate in order to remain benchmark players in a fast - moving financial world central banks and supervisors are directly interested in innovation, not only to keep pace with their private partners, but also to channel innovation towards the common good. that said, taking advantage of new technologies involves : 1 active monitoring, to identify worthwhile innovations 2 analysis, to detect their potential risks and vulnerabilities, and 3 anticipation of future threats. take the example of quantum computing : the technology may not be mature yet, but we have to prepare now for the consequences it will have on cryptographic methods. that is why last june the banque de france launched and successfully conducted an experiment with a private partner to develop post - quantum algorithms. innovation means movement, change and ultimately, a certain degree of risk - taking. hence the oxymoron and apparent contradiction with central banks'mission of monetary and financial stability. winston churchill once said : " without tradition art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. without innovation

ignazio visco : press conference remarks by mr ignazio visco, governor of the bank of italy, at the second g20 finance ministers and bank governors meeting, 7 april 2021. * * * good afternoon, today we discussed sustainable finance and two specific topics relating to financial regulation. on sustainable finance, the discussion concerned the work plan of the sustainable finance study group, which we decided to reactivate at our february meeting and which is co - chaired by china and the united states. the group has made rapid progress in the last few weeks and, following the inputs of the presidency, has agreed to focus its work this year on three areas : the first is sustainability reporting ; the second is related to the metrics for classifying and verifying investment sustainability ; and the third concerns how to enhance the contribution of international financial institutions to the goals of the paris agreement. in addition, the group will develop a multi - year roadmap on sustainable finance to address the most pressing issues relating to sustainable development. this will help in prioritizing its activity, which will initially be focused on climate but will subsequently look at sustainability more broadly. ministers and governors concurred on the importance of this agenda and agreed that the study group should be upgraded to a fully fledged working group. as regards financial regulation, today we discussed two documents submitted by the fsb : a report on the covid - 19 support measures and the main issues concerning their future evolution, and the final evaluation report on the effects of too - big - to - fail reforms. the first report shows that in the current and still uncertain circumstances most of the covid - 19 support measures remain in place, and their withdrawal is generally not imminent. authorities tend to view the potential risks to financial stability arising from the early removal of support measures as significant, and as being greater than those associated with a late withdrawal. we, ministers and governors, shared the main message of the report, which is that the persisting uncertainty over the evolution of the pandemic and the uneven pace of the recovery across countries call for a state - contingent and data - driven approach when deciding whether to adjust or end the support measures. this should be done in a gradual and targeted way, in order to minimize long - term financial stability risks. we also agreed on the need to maintain an internationally coordinated approach in responding to the pandemic, with the support of the financial stability board ( fsb ), to ensure that the financial sector continues to