hamad al - sayari : housing finance in the kingdom of saudi arabia speech by his excellency hamad al - sayari, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency, to the “ conference on housing finance in the kingdom ”, riyadh, 17 january 2007. * * * dear audience, it gives me a great pleasure to inaugurate the activities of the second day of the “ conference on housing finance in the kingdom ”. i would like to thank euromoney and all other entities organizing this important and vital conference in the kingdom at a time when we need, more than any time before, to shed more light on the issue of real estate finance, exchange views and benefit from the experiences of other nations in this area. undoubtedly, this will contribute to developing the proper strategies and mechanisms to overcome the challenges of finance in this significant sector. dear audience, as everybody knows, the saudi economy, in general, and the housing sector, in particular, have witnessed strong growth during the past years. the accelerated population growth rate in our country is considered among the highest growth rates in the world, calling for more financing needs for various development sectors, especially the housing sector. the government of saudi arabia, represented by the real estate development fund, has made, and continues to make, great efforts, under its development plans, in order to provide necessary finance to ensure the provision of appropriate housing for saudi citizens, especially those of limited income. the government has enhanced its efforts in this area by raising the capital of the fund by rls 9. 0 billion to rls 92 billion as from 2006. however, the accelerated population growth and the rising demand for housing have urged the creation of other real estate financing mechanisms in addition to the government ’ s financing mechanism. more finance and contribution by the private sector and reducing reliance on the government will give the private sector an opportunity to play a key role in this area which offers lucrative investment opportunities. nonetheless, it is fair to say that the private sector in general and the banking sector in particular seek to obtain more guarantees to enter as financers in this vital sector. this demands working effectively by all relevant entities to develop mechanisms for meeting the rising demand in this sector. dear brothers, over the preceding years, the kingdom of saudi arabia has undertaken many economic reform measures, updated and streamlined its laws and regulations, restructured the national economy, approved a number of mega development projects, and joined the world trade organization ( wto ). it has

philipp hildebrand : setting the course for the swiss economy – challenges for the swiss financial centre and outlook for the future summary of a speech by mr philipp hildebrand, chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, to the zurcher volkswirtschaftliche gesellschaft, zurich, 17 may 2010. the complete speech can be found in german on the swiss national bank ’ s website ( www. snb. ch ). * * * the swiss banks face two major challenges. first, sooner or later, they will have to carry out their core business – asset management for foreign customers – in a tax - conform environment. second, the big banks will be required to operate under more stringent regulatory requirements. these challenges are likely to lead to structural changes in the financial centre. how are such changes likely to affect the swiss economy? an empirical analysis shows that, although the financial centre plays an important role in the swiss economy, it also entails considerable risks. in the case of cross - border asset management, the relationship between the risk to the economy and the income earned is acceptable. however, this is hardly the case for the banks ’ own trading activities. consequently, current regulatory efforts could not only improve the stability of the financial sector, but also increase both the profitability of banks and the benefit which the swiss economy derives from the financial sector over the long - term period. meanwhile, it is of key importance, not just for the financial centre but for switzerland as a whole, that an acceptable solution be found for the taxation of foreign bank deposits.