of these global standards organisations, without the need for regulatory intervention, sets an encouraging precedent for finance. using the common language of finance so if a common language for finance were to arise with these features, what benefits might be expected? ( a ) improving risk management in firms like retail giants, global financial firms face a hugely complex logistical problem. like wal - mart, they produce multiple products, in multiple locations, with multiple counterparties financial stability board ( 2012 ). international organization for standardization ( 2001 ). international swaps and derivatives association ( 2012 ). bis central bankers ’ speeches working to multiple timelines. the world ’ s largest banks have hundreds of thousands of assets, tens of thousands of counterparts and operate to timelines ranging between 50 years and 50 milliseconds. like wal - mart, avoiding failure relies on the effective management of risks arising from these vast financial inventories and relationships. the financial crisis exposed myriad weaknesses in those risk management practices, especially among the larger and more complex financial firms. several reports, from both the official and private sectors, have exposed those deficiencies. 33 many of the lessons are common. for example, it is clear that the governance of risk at many financial firms was defective. risk committees lacked clout. but underlying these high - level problems was a set of lower - level deficiencies in data and risk capture. it infrastructure was often ill - suited to capturing these risks. as new products or business lines emerged, new bespoke systems were simply added to the legacy it estate. a tower of babel was erected. like product codes of the 1960s, or computer operating systems of the 1970s, banks ’ data networks became fragmented and unable to communicate effectively with one another. a fragmented data infrastructure has a number of nasty side - effects. one is a reliance on manual intervention to operate data and risk management systems. complete automation of business processes - second nature along the product supply chain – is a rare bird in banking. as well as improving efficiency, automation reduces the possibility of misreporting of exposures through human error. piecemeal data capture also complicates aggregation of risk exposures. that in turn undermine effective consolidated risk management. in its 2010 report, the senior supervisors group found that some firms could take weeks to aggregate exposures across their balance sheet. 34 even the best - run firms took several hours or days. this, too, contrasts starkly with the real - time inventory management systems operating along manufacturing supply chains,

europe had similar rules in place before the basel framework was published in april 2014, this new standard provides a global approach to regulate relations between banks and other financial institutions. the framework was designed to protect banks from significant losses caused by the sudden default of an individual counterparty. by extending the scope of coverage beyond banks to exposures to funds, securitisation structures and collective investment undertakings, the framework has also become a useful tool in helping to strengthen the oversight and regulation of the shadow banking system. 4. conclusion ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately all of us here will have to work in this challenging environment for some time to come – ultra - low interest rates, digitalisation, deleveraging, and a high degree of investment uncertainty will continue to frame our decisions. yet, as i have outlined, we are seeing a considerable improvement in the condition of the banking and financial sector. such developments and the regulatory reforms around basel iii have made the financial system more stable. bis central bankers ’ speeches nevertheless, further reform efforts are needed, and the momentum for reform cannot be lost. a resilient resolution regime with sufficient bail - in capital, prudent regulatory treatment of sovereign exposures, and the regulation of shadow banking activities are necessary to make the financial system more resilient. i think this is good news for investors, because it promises to boost transparency, enhance stability, and generate new investment products. my talking a lot about outstanding regulatory reforms might give you the impression that most of the work lies ahead of us. nevertheless, as the title of my speech suggests, we have already achieved a great deal – more than is still ahead of us. as a supervisor, i am happy to say that, while we still have a lot of work to do, the glass is half full, not half empty! ladies and gentlemen, that concludes my speech – thank you very much for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches