do different structures affect the optimal rules for transparency and liquidity in each market? is the canadian situation unique? and what lessons can be learned from the experiences of other countries? the bank recently held a workshop on these and related topics, with input from many financial market participants. a summary of this workshop will appear in our next financial system review. market microstructure will continue to be an important area of research at the bank and, i hope, in the canadian academic community as well. payment, clearing, and settlement systems. so far, i've talked about issues related to the architecture of the financial system. but as researchers, it is also important to pay attention to the plumbing - the critical infrastructure that supports the activities of institutions and markets. so let me ask a few questions regarding payment, clearing, and settlement systems. as i mentioned, the bank of canada is responsible for the oversight of those systems that have the potential to pose systemic risk. of course, financial service providers are major participants in these systems. at the bank, one major research project involves efforts to model payment, clearing, and settlement systems so as to better understand how they work. further research into the best oversight processes for these systems is also a priority. while the bank's objective is to see that risks are minimized, we need to do so in ways that do not unduly inhibit the development of even more efficient systems. do any current practices create unnecessary inefficiencies? what issues are raised by the current drive towards straight - through processing? how can cross - border clearing and settlement be improved, particularly where the ownership of securities and the posting of collateral are involved? conclusion as you can see, there are still many questions that need to be answered. there are still gaps in our knowledge, and the need to fill these gaps is pressing. you, as academics and researchers, can do your part so that policy - makers, supervisors, and institutions are all better informed and more productive. as i said earlier, canada's economic health depends on a strong financial services sector. so your work is crucial, not just for the bank of canada, but for all canadians. i hope that i have been able to convince you that there are many research topics that are not only inherently interesting for academics, but relevant for public policy. i look forward to you filling the gaps in our knowledge.

recovery in the provision of financial services to the real economy. moreover, bearing in mind that, through a number of different channels, financial conditions can be a major driver of the business cycle, the conduct of an active macroprudential policy will also generally help to temper the growth of nominal and real activity in boom phases and also their decline during downturns, which should moreover become less frequent. fo r example, banks ’ fulfilment o f these requirements at a given po int in time may no t prevent a credit - driven build - up o f aggregate macro eco no mic o r financial imbalances. internatio nal mo netary fund. ( 2013 ). “ key aspects o f macro prudential po licy ”. imf policy papers. hence, macroprudential policy can be conducive to a less volatile growth path and less hysteresis during crises. in this regard, macroprudential policy can be seen as a complement to monetary and fiscal policies with regard to their macroeconomic stability objective. the role of macroprudential policies in stabilising the economy might be particularly relevant in the european monetary union ( emu ), where a common monetary policy is shared by countries whose economic and financial cycles are still heterogeneous and where, in the absence of a common permanent fiscal capacity, national fiscal policy is left alone to counteract the negative consequences of idiosyncratic shocks or common shocks that generate different heterogeneous effects across member countries. looking ahead, this potential stabilisation role of macroprudential policy could be particularly relevant given the presence of high levels of structural public deficits and debt in many countries, which has significantly reduced the space available for fiscal policy to play its stabilisation role. the outbreak of the covid - 19 pandemic, when fiscal, monetary and macroprudential policies acted jointly to support the real economy, illustrates this stabilization role. however, macroprudential policy was constrained by the fact that the accumulated macroprudential buffers existing at its onset were small or non - existent in many jurisdictions, 3 given the precrisis context of very limited signs of any build - up of financial systemic risk. a stronger role of macroprudential policy to effectively address adverse shocks that occur independently of the financial cycle – as the covid crisis - will require, therefore, increasing the policy space generated by macroprudential