maintained during what has been an unprecedented year for us all, underlines the importance and urgency placed on improving cross - border payments. no single building block or focus area can act as a silver bullet, but together they form a holistic solution to the long - standing frictions which have been on the agenda for many years. strong collaboration and sustained commitment across all of these areas is necessary to tackle an issue spanning multiple players, time zones, jurisdictions and regulations. this will require work internationally and, as i hope my examples from the bank ’ s own rtgs renewal programme has shown, domestically too. this is an ambitious agenda. but it is also a really important one, where collectively we can enhance global economies, international trade and support financial inclusion. annex 1 : stage 1 all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches and @ boe _ pressoffice annex 2 : stage 2 all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches and @ boe _ pressoffice

in the uk. we know the pressure from demand for homes is great and that the supply of new homes is quite weak. if such an outcome came to pass, the proportion of mortgages at high multiples of the borrower ’ s income could rise substantially. debt would grow and become more concentrated. financial stability and the economy would be more exposed to a shock and one which, if it bis central bankers ’ speeches crystallised, could derail a sustained and durable expansion. the fpc ’ s recommendation should be seen as insurance against that risk crystallising. consistent with its role as risk manager, the fpc has acted in advance to identify and to protect against a very major risk to the financial system and the economy. to return to where i started. the bank of england is for stability. monetary and financial stability. we do not achieve that, any more, by holding gold. we aim to address that through the actions of the mpc and the fpc. the first aims to balance supply and demand and so steer the economy to keep control of inflation. the second aims to preserve financial stability by ensuring the underlying financial system is resilient by identifying risks and taking action to prevent them crystallising. the stress test of the major uk banks towards the end of the year will assess the resilience of the system to a major crash. the steps taken last week are insurance against the possibility of a sustained boom in the housing market leading a substantial increase and concentration in household debt that could make a crash more likely and more severe. and finally, just in case despite this speech, i am deluged with requests to visit the bank ’ s gold vaults, i am afraid there are very good security and safety reasons why we cannot offer this. but i can recommend that on your next trip to london you visit the outstanding bank of england museum just off threadneedle street. it is free. and you will be able to try to pick up one of our two bars of gold. most important of all, there is an excellent game that will allow you to try your hand at maintaining monetary and financial stability. because stability is what the bank of england is for. bis central bankers ’ speeches