the financial system as a whole. in addition to this it is obvious that further and new tasks arise for regulatory agencies and central banks at the national as well as the international level. addressing the issue of disaster recovery has to become part of the routine supervisory process. supervisory guidelines and examination procedures are being adjusted in this light and they are helpful tools in increasing resilience. also, when overseeing payment systems resilience and business continuity will have to be scrutinized anew. finally, central banks must always keep in mind that they carry a big responsibility for resilience and stability through their role as liquidity providers. time and time again, free and easy access to liquidity has proven to be essential in large - scale crises. since central bank liquidity is usually granted against collateral, the linkage between the payment and the securities settlement systems has to be especially robust. the market participants have to know and understand the conditions of access to lending of last resort facilities provided by central banks so that they can shape their contingency planning and collateral portfolios accordingly. simultaneously central banks have to take the necessary precautions to increase resilience at their own end. costs and benefits of resilience let me add some remarks on the costs and benefits of improving resilience. my conviction will not come as a surprise to you : investment in resilience does indeed pay out for the financial sector as a whole and for society at large, but it also pays out for financial market infrastructures and for each and every financial firm. in other words, i have no doubt that more still needs to be done at the level of single institutions, and, on top of that, at the level of the financial industry as a whole. however, voices have raised the concern that, in light of the ever - increasing cost of safety and against the background of the significant cost pressure due to deteriorating market conditions, investment in resilience might in fact be increasingly limited. but, as i said before, the higher requirements for operational reliability, for contingency planning and for crisis management stem mainly from the financial industry ’ s own development. clearly, increasing concentration, geographic clustering, connectivity and interdependency are highly beneficial, but they do also have a price when it comes to the reduction of risk. we cannot enjoy the benefits without paying this price. the point here is that we all have to be very careful about how we invest in resilience. and we have to make

jean - pierre roth : the financial crisis is receding – what will the future bring? summary of a speech by mr jean - pierre roth, chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the centro di studi bancari, vezia, 15 december 2009. the complete speech can be found in french on the swiss national bank ’ s website ( www. snb. ch ). * * * after the financial crisis, the global economy will enter a phase of weak economic growth. unemployment levels in the industrialised countries will be comparatively high. public finances in these countries have been heavily depleted, both by the crisis and by the needs arising from the ageing of their populations, and will need to be consolidated. in monetary terms, inflation will remain under control, at least in those countries whose central banks enjoy a strong level of independence. switzerland is comparatively well equipped to meet these challenges. its public finances are in a healthy state and it is sufficiently open to the world to participate in its most dynamic markets. with its tradition of high quality and cutting - edge technology, switzerland is well positioned to react to specific market requirements. moreover, it can draw on considerable financial resources and, thanks to the openness of its labour market, also has easy access to labour resources, without which growth would not be possible. switzerland ’ s only major drawback is the fact that it is a lightweight in the geopolitical arena, which makes it almost impossible for it to defend itself against protectionist tendencies and discriminatory measures taken by big countries. the swiss government must therefore take a strong stand on behalf of free trade, while also ensuring that the private sector operates within the best possible framework for its further development. ultimately, our future welfare depends on the vitality of the private sector, not on any state intervention.