, as a global hub for offshore rmb business. 6. there have been some important developments in this area that i am very pleased to share : first, the suite of mutual market access schemes was expanded in 2021 with the introduction of southbound trading under bond connect and wealth management connect, and again this year with etf connect and swap connect. these schemes demonstrate the significant and ever - growing role hong kong plays in the two - way opening up of mainland financial markets. earlier this month, the china securities regulatory commission announced three new initiatives to strengthen mutual access between mainland and hong kong financial markets. these are, first, broadening the scope of stock connect to include foreign companies with primary listings in hong kong and more companies listed on the shanghai and shenzhen stock exchanges ; second, development of an rmb - securities trading counter in hong kong and possible inclusion of rmb securities in southbound trading via stock connect ; and third, the introduction of mainland government bond futures in hong kong. these measures will enrich the investment choices for mainland investors, attract more foreign companies to list in hong kong, and provide more offshore risk management tools to meet global investors ’ hedging needs. apart from the expansion of the connect scheme, in july this year, the hkma ’ s currency swap agreement with the people ’ s bank of china was also increased from rmb500 billion to rmb800 billion and made permanent. following this change, hong kong ’ s facility is the largest of any jurisdiction and the only one that is not subject to renewal, giving us an effective liquidity back - stop to support the development of the offshore rmb market in hong kong. also in july, the hkma enhanced the operational flexibility, size and repo rates of its rmb liquidity facility. the changes will make it easier for banks to provide services to clients and other offshore centres in different time zones. more importantly, deepening the offshore rmb liquidity pool will enhance market efficiency and underpin the growth of offshore rmb activities, strengthening hong kong ’ s development as a leading offshore rmb hub and its unique role in the internationalisation of the rmb. 7. there have also been significant developments in the internationalisation of the rmb as well : the establishment of an rmb liquidity arrangement by the people ’ s bank of china and the bank for international settlements, announced in june, will provide support to participating central banks in times of market fluctuation. the hkma is pleased to join

and platforms which provide services at the interface between crypto - assets and the real economy. from a more prospective point of view, artificial intelligence ( ai ) will be among the most 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches impactful technologies in the financial industry for the upcoming years : 1 up to 30 % of major french banks ’ projects in current development are heavily focused on ai and the potential for insurers is equally huge both for the traditional damages insurance as for life insurance products. the expected benefits of ai in customer relationship and risk management are numerous : we don ’ t know the limits, and we shouldn ’ t be frightened of ai. to allow its wider use in a secured way, we have set up a task force on ai, led by the acpr and gathering all relevant industry representatives. and i already stress that we have to collectively implement at least three core principles : ( i ) promoting a greater understanding of algorithms to avoid the ‘ black box effect ’ ; ( ii ) ensuring a sound governance of ai - based systems ; ( iii ) fostering an ethical use of data so that bias - free ai applications promote inclusiveness. last but not least, green finance represents a new frontier for the 21st century for us as central bankers and supervisors. one of our priorities is to better measure the long - term risks associated with climate change : we need both a “ snapshot of the risks ” – namely the identification and disclosure of exposures – and a “ video of the risks ” provided by forward - looking carbon stress tests. but we also intend to develop the huge opportunities related to the financing of the transition towards a low - carbon economy – up to usd 90 trillion are needed till 2030 –, while preventing the risk of “ green washing ”. it would certainly make sense to promote a convergence towards a harmonised european standard for green bonds – including uk –, leveraging the green bond principles approach in terms of processes and transparency, and building on the climate bond initiative approach with regard to taxonomy. much has to be done in the coming years. in that regard, i am very happy to count the bank of england among the founding members of the central banks and supervisors network for greening the financial system ( ngfs ) that was launched by the banque de france last december. this is an enthusiastic and rapidly developing “ coalition of the willing ” : the nine founding members should shortly be joined by three new members and two observers : the bis and the oecd. several other