i will not dwell on it here ). anyway, despite all of this, the banks have also had to change gear and become heavily involved in loan recovery and the associated task of balance sheet restructuring of many of their distressed corporate ( and individual ) customers. but can one improve on having the banks as the engineers of restructuring? this question was widely discussed around the turn of the millennium, as researchers and practitioners tried to draw lessons applicable to the east asia crisis ( which hit half a dozen rapidly growing countries in 1997 – 8 and left a debris of corporate insolvencies ), and from the earlier experience of banking crises in japan, scandinavia and the united states, as well as some other developing countries cases. the broad conclusion from this debate 3 was that centralised asset management companies, as in sweden and with the us resolution trust corporation, can work well where what needs to be restructured is mainly a class of property companies. this is because the main assets of the companies are relatively easily transferred and do not depend on a specialised production chain, patents, firm - specific know how and so on. to overstate somewhat, the value of real estate may, especially in a downturn, be pretty much independent of who manages it. in a rising market, the swedes managed to do well in realizing their property portfolio over time. the international literature also warns, however, that large state - owned amcs can become vulnerable to improper political pressure, especially where large and prominent firms have become bankrupt. fortunately there is no evidence of such pressure occurring in respect of nama in the current irish crisis, and indeed the legislation setting up nama has built in protections against such pressures. on the other hand, non - property related distress may ( according to the international research ) best be managed by the banks themselves. specific company know - how can help in devising the best solutions for maximising the value of the firm ’ s assets – provided that the restructuring process can be insulated from the denial and over - optimism that may have contributed to poor loan underwriting in the first place. the banks in turn need to be provided with sufficient capital to allow them to fearlessly accept and crystallise the unavoidable loan - losses, sufficient liquidity to be able to provide further financing to set the restructured firm back onto a healthy growth path, and eventually move it out of the limbo of financial distress. as against all of this, it has to be acknowledged that few bank staff start

irish financial 3 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches system and the evolution of existing sectors are bringing rapid evolution to the landscape for financial users and firms. in response, we are continuing to evolve our regulatory approach. to support financial wellbeing, our regulation will continue to be outcomes - focused and follow six principles : forward looking, connected, proportionate, predictable, transparent and agile. particular milestones in our regulatory work programme this year include : consulting and engaging widely on the development of our consumer protection framework and on the operationalisation of the individual accountability framework ; continuing to progress actions at a domestic and international level on the global systemic risks in the funds sector, as well as enhancing the governance, oversight and investor outcomes in the sector ; and implementing new eu regulations on digital operational resilience and markets in crypto. our supervisory priorities include the assessment and management of risks to financial and operational resilience, continuing to drive for fair outcomes for consumer and investors, overseeing the withdrawal of ulster bank and kbc from the irish market and detecting and sanctioning market abuse. we will in particular work with the department of finance on the next steps from the retail banking review and the recommendations of the imf's financial system assessment programme. we note and welcome the joint oireachtas committees recent report on banking and are currently studying its recommendations. let me touch on a couple of issues before we turn to your questions. retail bank consolidation the central bank continues to engage actively with the firms as part of its supervisory programme on retail bank consolidation. we have made clear to the retail banks that the bank exits, and in particular the large - scale migration of customer bank accounts from ulster bank and kbc, must happen in line with customer needs and expectations. the account migration, transfer of loans and other assets and winding down of the business of ulster bank and kbc is a complex process, but it is on track and the system is working well together and responding appropriately. our latest account migration statistics – published yesterday – indicate that, at enddecember 2022, 65 per cent of current accounts were either closed or inactive. 4 we expect all retail banks to have plans in place to manage the impact of the broader changes and consolidation in the retail banking sector in ireland. it is the responsibility of the individual banks to ensure that they are putting their customer first, ensuring fair treatment of customers and that customers understand what the changes mean for them. 4 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches as