commercial banks in 2004. the licensing ban had been put in place following several bank failures in the late 1990s. you may recall that these bank failures resulted in the enactment of the financial institutions act, ( fia ) 2004 with more stringent regulatory standards that required new entrants to undergo rigorous due diligence and meet higher minimum capital requirements. kcb uganda has expanded to a bank with a branch network of sixteen branches across the country and has registered significant growth in its balance sheet and shareholder capital over the years. ladies and gentlemen, these are no mean achievements given the increasing competition in the banking sector. financial services ’ providers need to innovate continuously to remain competitive. in this regard, the bank has positioned itself as one of the leading providers of digital banking solutions in the market. it recently upgraded its core banking system to support the bank ’ s digitalization. mission : to foster price stability and a sound financial system macroeconomic stability vision : to be a centre of excellence in upholding the next decade promises to be even more exciting and challenging for banks in uganda. it will be characterized by accelerated dynamism in form of adoption of new technologies and service models that offer advantages but also pose new risks. it is a period in which fintech can be applied to spur efficiency gains in the financial sector, offer more specialized, better and more targeted products and services, and deepen financial inclusion. it is still too early to gauge the full impact of the current technological progress on the banking sector. however, it is not untenable to say that there is potential for many of the services and products currently on offer by banks and other financial market players to be rendered obsolete by new tech - savvy entrants or more competitive processes. with the increased use of technology in our daily lives, banks will be required to adopt more efficient mechanisms of leveraging the vast quantities of consumer and firm data. the advent of new fintech has implications for financial stability and the attendant regulation and supervision frameworks. first, a number of these financial services and products stretch beyond the realm of the existing supervisory and regulatory framework. second ; the near universal use of technological solutions could entail increased vulnerability to cyberattacks and inadequacies with respect to compliance with anti - money laundering and anti - terrorism financing regulations. to respond to these new risks and vulnerabilities, our regulatory framework will also have to change fundamentally from the present focus on intermediaries or “ entity - based ”

therefore invest appropriately in developing effective corporate communication strategies as a new liquidity management tool. last but not least, i would like to congratulate mr. matthias katamba on his appointment as the new managing director of dfcu bank. but also thank mr. juma kisaame for serving dfcu bank diligently. mr. michael mugabi, allow me to congratulate you in your new assignment as acting managing director of housing finance bank. and i hope that the board of directors shall find it fitting to confirm you in that position. once again, i thank you for the continued support to the economic development of uganda through your financial intermediation role. thank you for listening. professor emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile governor, bank of uganda