economic prospects, the basic questions surrounding capital and regulatory reform have now been answered. we anticipate that some firms with high capital levels that have been retaining solid earnings for several quarters will be interested in increasing or resuming dividends. in response to these anticipated requests, we will soon be issuing supervisory guidelines applicable to such requests from the largest holding companies for the first quarter of next year. although the details of these guidelines are still being finalized, i can say that our approach to considering such requests will be a conservative one. we will expect firms to submit convincing capital plans that demonstrate their ability to absorb losses over the next two years under an adverse economic scenario that we will specify, and still remain amply capitalized. we also expect that firms will have a sound estimate of any significant risks that may not be captured by the stress testing, such as potential mortgage putback exposures, and the capacity to absorb any consequent losses. the firms will also be asked to show how, even with their proposed capital distributions, they will readily and comfortably meet the basel iii requirements as they come into effect, as well as to accommodate any business model changes that might be necessitated by dodd - frank. conclusion the final set of major dodd - frank regulations will not be completed until early 2012. a year from now we will be in the midst of a regulatory process implementing basel iii, and there will likely be an active debate over the future of the government - sponsored enterprises. so i see little risk that the third annual conference on financial regulatory reform at george washington law school will be entitled “ the end of the road. ” maybe, just maybe, i have given you a title for the fourth. then again, maybe not.

anita angelovska bezhoska : payments in the digital era - inside out speech by ms anita angelovska bezhoska, governor of the national bank of the republic of north macedonia, at the 13th conference on payments and market infrastructures, jointly organised by the national bank of north macedonia and the netherlands bank, ohrid ( digitally ), 9 december 2021. * * * dear governor knot, minister besimi, dear speakers and participants it is my great pleasure to welcome you to our traditional conference on payments in the digital era : inside out, hosted by our central bank together with the dutch central bank, for which i express my deep gratitude to governor knot and his colleagues. our lives are becoming increasingly digital as a result of the proliferation of new technologies that transform public and private services making them more convenient and accessible to consumers. as our lives have gone digital, so have our payments. the digitalisation of consumer payment behaviour, which has been going on for years, has been accelerated by the pandemics that shifted it in a higher gear. globally, last year cash payments declined by 16 %, while the number of non - cash transactions increased by 6 %. the pandemics has particularly accelerated the shift towards real time / instant payments that grew by 40 %. in the euro area, according to the ecb survey on payment attitudes ( 2020 ) 1, 40 % of the respondents stated that since the onset of the pandemic they have used less cash and more cards ( contactless in particular ). the main reasons for changing payment habits include the increased convenience of the electronic payments, for example increased limit on the amount of contactless payments, the perceived risk of infection from banknotes, governments ’ recommendations to use cash less, as well as more difficult access to and lower acceptance of cash at the points of sale. this trend in payments is unlikely to be reversed. almost 90 % of the respondents stated that they would continue to use cash less once the pandemic is over. similar trends in payment habits can be observed in our country as well. consumers have shown strong preferences for using cashless instruments such as cards. for example, the number of payment transactions initiated on the virtual point of sale last year doubled and continued to raise at double - digit growth rates this year. also, the volume of contactless card payments increased by about 50 % in 2020 and this trend has continued this year. obviously, advancement in technology opens the doors to innovative digital services,