of the most important ways to help mdis is by reducing regulatory burden. we are acting to implement provisions of a new law, s - 2155, and reviewing comments on several proposals made in 2018 to ensure they do not unduly burden community banks. our community bank leverage ratio proposal would allow qualifying banks to opt out of a more complicated risk - based capital framework. other proposals include raising to $ 400, 000 the threshold for when an appraisal is required for a residential real estate transaction and narrowing the volcker rule to banks engaged in riskier activities. we raised the threshold from $ 1 billion to $ 3 billion in assets for banks that could qualify for an 18 - month examination cycle. further, we raised the asset threshold to $ 3 billion for the small bank holding company and savings and loan holding company policy statement. this change, which exempts small holding companies from consolidated risk - based capital rules, fosters local ownership of small banks by allowing more banking companies with limited access to capital markets to use debt in bank acquisitions. with respect to supervision, the federal reserve continues to tailor and reduce burden by conducting portions of examinations offsite for community banks that prefer that option. the 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches bank exams tailored to risk ( betr ) program identifies low - risk or, conversely, high - risk activities within state member banks and appropriately streamlines or expands examination work programs commensurate with the identified risk. this minimizes the burden for banks that are well managed and directs supervisory resources to higher - risk activities where they are most needed. related to regulatory burden is an important initiative, in concert with the federal deposit insurance corporation, to identify healthy minority banking organizations capable of acquiring or merging with mdis in troubled condition. our pfp team has assisted with the process for establishing new mdis and worked with mdis to identify advantageous federally sponsored programs with which to collaborate. i note that today ’ s agenda includes a session on this topic. research the board and reserve banks also conduct valuable research on the impact of mdis on underserved households and communities. last november, we held a webinar, which i hope some of you were able to participate in, on recent research on mdis. all of our mdi research is available on the partnership for progress website. the pfp continues to seek to sponsor highquality research to enhance our understanding of the mdi business model and how mdis serve their communities. we welcome your input

lesetja kganyago : the impact of the eurozone financial crisis on african economies speech by mr lesetja kganyago, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, to the nepad ( the new partnership for africa ’ s development ) business foundation, sandton, 17 april 2012. * * * programme director chair of nedbank, dr ruel khoza ladies and gentlemen all protocols observed it is now generally accepted that the global financial crisis showed its first signs in the sub - prime market in usa. it is thus tempting to think that it has got nothing to do with us. however we do know that in a world where the financial systems and the economies are closely integrated, this would have been cold comfort. the slowly unfolding financial crisis in the united states and the eventual shock of the lehman bankruptcy in october 2008 hit an already weakening economy. as credit was restricted globally and trade volumes collapsed around the world, the value of real exports of goods and services declined. what i would like to do today is to address three questions that would hopefully spark a discussion during the panel discussion : what do we know about the euro crisis? what are the channels through which it affects african economies? how did african economies fare and / or respond during the crisis? what do we know about the euro crisis? fiscal situation : the fiscal metrics of many euro area countries have been deteriorating in the past five years. this culminated in the bailing out of ireland and a troika programme for greece, including a very significant write - off. most euro area countries have debt to gdp ratios in excess of 60 % and this includes even the stronger anchor countries such as germany and france. in the case of greece ; ireland ; italy ; portugal and spain, the fiscal situation also got reflected in higher borrowing costs that made any fiscal stimulus a non - option for policy makers. recent budget data suggest that the weaker countries in the euro zone will overshoot their official fiscal consolidation targets. these countries are caught between a rock and a hard place. save for austerity, fiscal consolidation can only come from faster economic growth. the growth situation : growth outcomes have been disappointing in the euro area, to say the least. recent data suggest that there could have been further contraction in the first quarter of this year while global growth has not been as supportive to the euro economy. there is also a policy dilemma of balancing fiscal consolidation and providing support to the economy to continue growing. with financial markets reluctant to lend