for example, when evaluating a technology - driven business model of a new company involved in financial services, supervisory authorities today often need to combine legal, economic and technical expertise. in these situations, it is no longer possible for a single person to make a comprehensive assessment. supervisory authorities thus need to learn to cope with it - related content and an agile environment – much like the institutions themselves. this means that supervisory authorities will have to face up to topics such as maintaining it skills within their organisation and finding a suitable organisational setup to tackle complex questions that arise in today ’ s financial sector. 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches so it ’ s not just about setting the right framework for digital finance. organisational matters also become crucial to the effective enforcement of our regulatory framework. 4 conclusion ladies and gentlemen, i promised you to shed some light on digital transformation from the perspective of a central bank. so please forgive me for concluding with the typical remark of a central banker : “ there are opportunities. and there are also risks ”. while harbouring enormous possibilities, digital transformation also poses quite substantial challenges. in particular, it reshapes the financial system in a way we still do not fully comprehend. this throws up new kinds of questions that require new answers. it is the task of central banks, supervisors, legislators and market participants alike to shape these developments. ultimately, digital transformation will be what we make of it. thank you. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches

burkhard balz : digital transformation – a central bank perspective speech by mr burkhard balz, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the 2nd ebf cloud banking conference, brussels, 9 july 2019. * * * 1 introduction ladies and gentlemen, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. having spent several years in the european parliament, it is always a pleasure to be back in brussels. wim mijs and roberto viola have already given us some very interesting thoughts on cloud services. now i would like to talk from the perspective of a central bank and supervisory authority and in particular, about why digital transformation interests us, and what opportunities and challenges it may have in store for us. 2 digital transformation, cloud services and the bundesbank ladies and gentlemen, while no one can predict the future with certainty, we know one thing for sure – digital transformation is here, it ’ s now and it ’ s big. it changes the way we live and work. in the financial sector, digital transformation has thrown up numerous questions, even leading some to ask whether banks or central banks will still be needed in future. for instance, some observers have already declared that the days of government - issued currencies are numbered. following the hype about crypto - tokens like bitcoin, “ stablecoins ” – crypto - tokens or accounts whose value is pegged to existing fiat currencies or a basket of currencies – such as facebook ’ s libra have recently dominated the headlines. i will be brief on this point : crypto - tokens currently do not pose a risk to monetary or financial stability. yet gaps may occur where they fall outside the scope of regulators ’ authority or where there is an absence of international standards. any wider use of new types of crypto - tokens would therefore warrant close scrutiny. their technical stability must be evaluated as well as their impact on monetary and financial stability. be assured that we will monitor potential risks very closely and in a coordinated fashion, and consider multilateral regulatory responses as needed. let us now take a step back and talk more generally about digital transformation and central banks. why does digital transformation interest us at the bundesbank? first, digital transformation has far - reaching effects on the overall economy. it affects economic activity, capacity and inflation. as a central bank with a mandate to ensure price stability, it is important that we are able to gauge