had contributed to the financial panics in the late 1800s and early 1900s. at that time, checks were used far differently than they are today, and represented a primary means of making interbank wholesale transfers. sixty years later, in the 1970s, the federal reserve ’ s early participation in and subsidization of the automated clearing house system provided the impetus to launch that new nationwide electronic payment mechanism. i believe that fostering a competitive environment is critically important for all portions of the retail payments system, including those in which the federal reserve is a participant. indeed, the effectiveness of the u. s. retail payments systems can be credited largely to the competitive marketplace in which payments are provided. the federal reserve promotes a competitive marketplace in part through innovations that enhance the cost effectiveness and quality of our services. an example of current initiatives we have underway that i think holds great potential is the use of web browser software to enable banks to communicate with the federal reserve to send and retrieve information. this technology will make it much easier, for instance, for banks to order cash, retrieve images of checks, and submit the financial information that we ask banks to provide regularly. it will also significantly improve our ability to respond quickly to the evolving needs of our customers. the federal reserve is also working to streamline the check collection process through the use of electronics and image processing. last year, more than 2. 2 billion checks - or about 14 percent of all checks collected by the reserve banks - - were presented electronically. in addition to the growing array of image services provided by the reserve banks, the fed is also leading efforts to develop industry standards for the exchange of check images. another example of current fed innovation is in the ach arena. the federal reserve will soon provide financial edi translation capability available to all banks that receive ach transactions through our fedline software. this capability will support the treasury ’ s eft99 initiative and help facilitate end - to - end electronic payments. in 1980, in part to promote competition among the federal reserve and private - sector service providers, congress enacted the monetary control act. mca requires the federal reserve to price its payment services to recover all costs of providing the services over the long run, including imputed costs that would have been incurred and imputed profits that would have been earned had the services been provided by a private firm. the federal reserve has fully met this requirement, and i believe mca has enhanced the competitive environment for the provision of payment services and has improved payments

randal k quarles : the next stage in the libor transition speech ( via prerecorded video ) by mr randal k quarles, vice chair for supervision of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the alternative reference rates committee roundtable, cohosted by the alternative reference rates committee and the new york university stern school of business and its salomon center for the study of financial institutions, new york city, 3 june 2019. * * * good morning to you all. i am sorry i cannot be present at the alternative reference rates committee ’ s ( arrc ) fourth roundtable, but i wanted to share these remarks with you at what is the start of the next critical stage in the transition away from libor. 1 since 2014, the official sector has publicly warned that libor could become unstable. not everyone paid attention to those warnings, but the risks that we pointed to have materialized. the u. k. financial conduct authority has intervened to preserve libor ’ s stability only through the end of 2021. despite that development, some continue to speculate that libor can remain in production indefinitely. my key message to you today is that you should take the warnings seriously. clarity on the exact timing and nature of the libor stop is still to come, but the regulator of libor has said that it is a matter of how libor will end rather than if it will end, and it is hard to see how one could be clearer than that. the federal reserve convened the arrc based on our concerns about the stability of libor. the arrc was charged with providing the market with the tools that would be needed for a transition from libor : an alternative rate that did not share the same structural instabilities that have led libor to this point, a plan to develop liquidity in the derivatives market for this new rate so that cash users could hedge their interest rate risk, and models of better contract language that helped limit the risk from a libor disruption. the arrc has provided these tools. now it is up to you to begin using them. with only two and a half years of further guaranteed stability for libor, the transition should begin happening in earnest. i believe that the arrc has chosen the most viable path forward and that most will benefit from following it, but regardless of how you choose to transition, beginning that transition now would be consistent with prudent risk management and the duty that you