the world. all political, economic and social phenomena are caught up in a process of endless change. and nowadays, with the rapid progress of globalization and informatization, the pace of that change is accelerating still further. under these circumstances, if we follow the old ways of thinking and patterns of behavior, from when the pace of change was slow and predicting its directions was to some extent feasible, we cannot but slip back onto a path of decline. we need to think deeply now, to identify what changes in the bank of korea ’ s role this new era demands, so that our bank may stride proudly forward to take its place as a leading central bank in the 21st century. the theme of the “ changing role of central banks ” was in this regard chosen for the 2010 bank of korea international conference, held on may 31 and june 1 in celebration of our bank ’ s 60th anniversary. this was one part of our efforts to discern the new role of our bank in the changed environment following the recent global financial crisis. dear friends and colleagues, the global financial crisis following the lehman brothers collapse inflicted unprecedented shocks on the world economy, raising fundamental questions concerning the economic theories and principles that had long been received wisdom. in this context, perceptions as to the desirable role of the central bank are now shifting greatly. until now, the belief has been that the central bank can facilitate sustainable growth by attaining price stability through its operation of monetary policy. this crisis has demonstrated, however, that even under low and stable inflation, imbalances such as sharp run - ups in asset prices can occur, and that this can bring about a financial crisis and severe real economic downturn. in consequence, the argument that ex - post monetary policy response to crisis is by no means simple and gives rise ultimately to massive social costs has gained influence. the opposing view, that a pre - emptive policy response to asset price bubbles could have too many negative side effects, has meanwhile lost support. against the background of such changing perceptions, argument has arisen recently at home and abroad, about the proposition that the central bank should exercise its financial stability role in a more assertive manner. to move ahead with strengthening its financial stability role to meet the needs of the times, the bank of korea has many tasks to carry out. above all, the bank should establish the appropriate scope of its financial stability role, while at the same time obtaining the required policy tools and expanding the range of the counterpart financial institutions embraced by its policy –

news conference on new 20 - franc note berne, 10 may 2017 fritz zurbrugg introductory remarks by fritz zurbrugg ladies and gentlemen it is a pleasure to welcome you to our news conference. my colleague thomas wiedmer and i are delighted to present the swiss national bank ’ s new 20 - franc note to you today. we showed you what it looks like just a few minutes ago – i hope you like it. personally, i really like the way it has turned out, and i know that both of my colleagues on the governing board are also very pleased with the result. i shall start with a brief review of our experiences with the ninth banknote series so far ; the 50 - franc note – the first denomination in the new series to be released – entered circulation over a year ago. i shall then make some observations about the theme and design of the 20franc note, before handing over to thomas wiedmer, who will go through the security features and present the accompanying information material. we presented the new 50 - franc note in april 2016 and, as expected, it attracted a great deal of public interest. not only had it been 20 years since the last banknote series was released, but the new notes also contained features that clearly set them apart from earlier series. for starters, they feel different due to the new substrate. furthermore, an entirely new design approach was adopted. the response to the new note has been predominantly positive ; feedback indicates that the public find the theme and the design appealing, and the security features easy to remember. the snb ’ s extensive information campaign surrounding the 50franc note in switzerland and liechtenstein played a role here. among experts – both at home and abroad – the note is seen as high - quality and cutting - edge in terms of its security features. first impressions suggest that, overall, the new 50 - franc note is more stable and, as hoped, more resistant to tearing than the eighth - series notes. however, given that so little time has elapsed, we do not yet have any hard data or long - term forecasts of the quality and fitness for circulation of the new notes. we do have some initial data on the page 1 / 3 berne, 10 may 2017 fritz zurbrugg news conference on new 20 - franc note security front. so far, only a handful of crude counterfeits have come to our attention ; these were spotted immediately and withdrawn from