tiff macklem : global financial reform – maintaining the momentum remarks by mr tiff macklem, senior deputy governor of the bank of canada, presented to the g - 20 workshop, paris, 7 july 2011. * * * introduction it is now almost three years since the financial crisis went viral in the autumn of 2008 and threatened a complete meltdown of the global financial system. thanks to the bold and concerted actions of g - 20 nations, the financial system was stabilized and an economic depression avoided. but the fallout was nonetheless severe – the worst global recession since the great depression, with almost 28 million jobs lost worldwide. and we continue to struggle with the aftershocks of the crisis. a central pillar of the policy response to the crisis was a sweeping reform of the financial regulatory and supervisory framework. launched at the g - 20 leaders summit in london, the multi - pronged reform agenda included several key elements : enhanced transparency and disclosure ; higher prudential and liquidity standards ; a new system of macroprudential oversight ; credible and effective resolution regimes for large financial institutions ; a broader scope for regulation and oversight spanning all systemically important financial institutions, markets and instruments ; stronger infrastructure for key financial markets ; and measures to promote adherence to international prudential regulatory and supervisory standards. our challenge as policy - makers is to strike the right balance. we don ’ t want to undermine efficiency or stifle innovation, but we do want to deter reckless behaviour. the regulatory reform agenda began, appropriately, at the core of the financial system. in many respects, this was the easy part since we have considerable experience with the regulated sector. as we move beyond the core to consider issues of perimeter and interconnectedness, the intellectual and practical challenges are larger. at the same time, as the desperation of the crisis fades from memories, so will the urgency to tackle these issues. our collective responsibility is to ensure that our efforts redouble as the going gets tougher. since the london summit, considerable progress has been made along three fronts : standards, tools and enforcement. standards the financial crisis revealed all too starkly that liquidity buffers were glaringly inadequate, and that the banking system as a whole was dangerously undercapitalized and over - leveraged. the new global standards in the basel iii capital accord redress this core vulnerability. they substantially increase the loss - bearing capital that financial institutions must hold. they establish new liquidity standards and a limit on leverage. these represent

david dodge : summary of the latest monetary policy report update opening statement by mr david dodge, governor of the bank of canada, at a press conference following the release of the monetary policy report update, ottawa, 24 january 2008. * * * good morning. i'm pleased to be here with you today, for my final press conference as governor of the bank of canada, to discuss our january monetary policy report update. the canadian economy continues to operate above its production capacity, despite some slowing in growth and inflation in the fourth quarter of 2007. financial conditions have deteriorated since october, leading to tighter credit conditions in industrialized countries. given this, and a deeper and more prolonged decline in the u. s. housing sector, the outlook for the u. s. economy in 2008 is now significantly weaker than at the time of the october mpr. the weaker u. s. economy will lead to additional downward pressure on canada's export growth. despite tighter credit conditions, domestic demand in canada is expected to remain strong, supported by continued income growth associated with the increase in commodity prices seen since october. overall, the bank now projects that the canadian economy will expand by 1. 8 per cent in 2008 and 2. 8 per cent in 2009. this growth profile implies that the economy will move into excess supply in the second quarter of this year, and then return to balance in early 2010. inflation is projected to fall below 1 1 / 2 per cent by the middle of this year before returning to 2 per cent by the end of 2009. this reflects a price - level adjustment related to increased competitive pressures in the retail sector stemming from the level of the canadian dollar, as well as the recent reduction in the gst. excluding the impact of the gst reduction, total cpi inflation is projected to average close to the 2 per cent target throughout 2008 and 2009. of course, there are a number of upside and downside risks to the bank's base - case projection for inflation. but overall, we judge these risks to be roughly balanced. on 4 december and on 22 january, the bank lowered its target for the overnight rate by onequarter of one percentage point, bringing it to 4 per cent. further monetary stimulus is likely to be required in the near term to keep aggregate supply and demand in balance, and to return inflation to target over the medium term.