globalised nature of markets. the discussion will also need to pay due regard to the potential for other consequences of changes to practice in this area, including the possibility that private entities become so confident that liquidity risk has effectively been removed that they end up taking more risk of other types. that could leave both themselves and their central banks in an awkward position at some point down the track. so in parallel with ongoing development of liquidity arrangements by central banks, there will need to be a focus in the supervisory community and the banks themselves on liquidity management. conclusion international financial events over the past nine months have been a source of considerable instability. risk that was always in the economic environment has belatedly been recognised. the ensuing process of assessing and disclosing losses, finding new capital and de leveraging has been very difficult. matters have not been helped by the opacity and complexity of some of the financial instruments involved, and the associated problems in valuing them. for market participants and policy makers alike, this environment has been challenging indeed. those of you in the markets are dealing with heightened volatility and uncertainty. policy makers, meanwhile, are working hard to stabilise the present international situation. in some countries, especially the us, that involves being prepared to take measures quite aggressively, in an effort to avert a cumulative spiral of declining asset values and deteriorating creditworthiness feeding back on itself and doing great damage to the economy. in other countries, where financial strains are also occurring though not always to the same extent, it has thus far involved significant changes to liquidity management, while balancing the financial risks against other macroeconomic risks in an effort to foster long run stability. in all countries, though, policy makers are also keeping an eye out for the potential low probability, but high cost, downside events that could emerge. it looks as though the environment will remain quite challenging for us all for a while but the strength of the australian financial system is, for australia, a good basis for meeting the challenge.

specialised in one or some lending activities ( financial leasing, credits, micro credit, factoring, etc. ). 3. savings and loan associations - ( 16 ) which collect deposits from their members and supply credits only to the members of the association. 1 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches these financial entities ( banks and non - banks ) have continuously supported the economy of albania and households through lending activity. currently, the entire granted credit portfolio is assessed at all 805 billion. lending is the main activity carried out by non - bank financial institutions. the latter through this activity help a specific category of consumers and small enterprises, who do not manage to access the banking system. currently, 26 non - bank financial institutions operate in albania carrying out the lending activity, though they account for only 6 % of the system's credit portfolio, totalling all 53. 6 billion. the practice of selling and purchasing non - performing loans appeared in the albanian financial market, after the global financial crisis of 2008 - 2010. in this period, some of credits granted by banks over the years were not repaid by citizens. in 2015, these credits exceeded 25 % of total credits, directly affecting the soundness and safety of banks and turning into a serious threat to citizens'savings. the ability of banking sector to support the economy with new credits reduces significantly due to the overloading of balance sheets with non - performing loans. against this backdrop, the albanian government and the bank of albania adopted " the national plan on the reduction of non - performing loans " in september 2015. among other things, the plan charged the bank of albania with the task of regulating and licensing entities engaged in the purchase of non - performing loans. this practice, recognized internationally, is strongly recommended by the experts of the imf and the world bank. in that period, some financial institutions, in addition to lending for which they were licensed by the bank of albania, had also purchased non - performing loan portfolios from banks. this activity is based on the provisions laid down in the civil code on the transfer of credit ( articles 499 – 507 and 705, respectively ). pursuant to the amendments taking place in march 2016, credit purchase is considered a form of lending. through licensing, credit purchase and sale, based on the aforementioned articles of the civil code, is regulated and controlled by the bank of albania, being a subject to all supervisory obligations, including : reporting to the credit registry, providing periodic reports, risk management through