transparent and more tangible for many tens of thousands of visitors. the new euro20 + event format was also important to you as a way of reaching out to a younger generation. you are therefore leaving the house in good order. i would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for that, on behalf of all colleagues ; on behalf of the executive board ; and i would like to extend my own sincere gratitude for the excellent working relationship we have enjoyed. we wish you all the best for the future! at the same time, we are all pleased that the bank will be led by a highly esteemed and experienced colleague in future, too. joachim nagel is still very familiar to many at the bank : joachim, you already worked at the bank from 1999 to 2016 – at almost every level, most recently, for six years as a member of the executive board. on the executive board, we always had a very close and trusting working relationship. for some years, you were responsible for the 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches directorate general markets and as a member of the executive board, also for the directorates general controlling and it. so it is fair to say : you know the bank like the back of your hand! you, too, joachim, are perfectly equipped for the post of president. we will benefit a great deal from the rich body of experience you also gathered outside the bundesbank over the past few years : as a member of the executive board of kfw group and in a managerial role at the bank for international settlements. but you always nurtured your links to the world of academia. in karlsruhe, where you completed your phd, you regularly lectured. you also demonstrated that you are a good crisis manager during the global financial crisis when you were responsible for the directorate general markets. quick and difficult decisions were often necessary. we very much hope that we will not need these special crisis management skills too often in the coming years! many tasks lie ahead of us. we constantly have to explain the role of the bundesbank and, where necessary, justify difficult decisions, too. we will master these tasks at the bank together. the bank – that is 10, 000 employees who give their all every day for the common good and our tasks. on behalf of all colleagues, i can therefore only say : welcome back, joachim – we look forward to working with you! i would now like to hand over to the federal finance minister. mr lindner, we are

a managerial task before it - related problems came to affect the very core of the digital economy, they were commonly shifted to the it department. but this approach to it risks is outdated. awareness of digital risks and setting up a strategy are now a leader ’ s duties. if your business crucially relies on digital processing, any strategic decision at the company level requires knowledge and understanding of risks. besides, we frequently observe that banks find it difficult to reorganise their it systems. while a complete, “ big bang ” overhaul may be preferable, it often meets with resistance from many parts of the company. to avoid being locked into more and more outdated structures, banks should not just consider the expected short - term benefits when designing their it strategy. furthermore, the digital world demands from banks ’ managers something i would describe as unbiased attentiveness towards new technologies. if banks don ’ t think “ digitally ”, they ’ re going to find it difficult to compete for digital customers. they have to reassess their client relations and even rethink different lifestyles and social trends. the individual needs and wishes of customers are more pivotal than ever before. take a look at social networks, at online shopping or even at information research – consumers are already used to having their own needs catered for. consequently, banks will have to get into the habit of looking at things from the customer ’ s perspective. bis central bankers ’ speeches let us also bear in mind that competition is becoming more global and more transparent, the competitors more diverse. in addition to fintech companies, other industries with a strong it focus are only one step away from the banking world. this means that the lines between industries are becoming blurred. now more than ever, banks need to be aware of what the competition is doing so that they can review and refine their own strategies. from an evolutionary perspective, adaptability is another essential attribute. the digital world welcomes experimentation, is prone to sudden trends, and is constantly changing. although the banking industry may not always be subject to all of this constant movement, adaptability is definitely becoming more important. so a flexible it infrastructure that supports adaptability, for example, will be vital. business models can also be more open and flexible in structure. just think of the “ digital ecosystem ” strategies banks are now deploying. 5. towards a resilient sector as a banking supervisor, i am wholeheartedly in favour of the goal of a stable sector