are venture capital supported entities, which can ’ t exactly substitute a wide capital base. this is where the banks could capitalise on the fintech ecosystem. the banks could as well leverage big data, data analytics, sme friendly applications, etc., in effectively lending to msme segment while remaining compliant with extant kyc norms and appraisal & monitoring principles and reduce their intermediation and compliance costs. whether to do so inhouse or through a collaboration is a business judgement that individual banks need to make. 13. despite some inherent advantages that the fintech players enjoy, it is not a one way street for them. the fintech companies do not have a big client base of their own and without the expertise to navigate the regulations and licensing discipline of the finance industry ; they can ’ t go very far on their own. a major strength that traditional banks possess is a reputation for trustworthiness built over several decades. the banks have capital and can weather intense competition. they also have the benefit of experience and tried - and - tested infrastructure alongside specific financial knowledge of risk management, local regulations and compliance. in fact, banks ’ on - the - ground market and customer knowledge and pre - existing client base can be of immense value to fintech projects. in a nutshell, banks and fintech firms have different comparative advantages and a strategic collaborative partnership between the two would liberate them to focus on their respective core competencies and contribute to the innovation process. 14. let me now highlight few recent tech - enabled initiatives which have been blessed by rbi for promoting accessibility of finance to the msme sector. some rbi initiatives 15. rbi has initiated measures to expand the reach of banking services for unbanked population, regulating an efficient electronic payment system and providing alternative options to the msme sector. before i conclude let me focus on couple of recent tech - based initiatives launched by the rbi for benefit of the msme ecosystem. ( i ) treds : in order to solve the problem of delayed payment to msmes, rbi has licensed three entities for operating the trade receivables discounting system ( treds ). the objective is to create electronic bill factoring exchanges which could electronically accept and settle bills so that msmes could encash their receivables without delay. the system would facilitate the financing of trade receivables of msme enterprises from corporate and other buyers, including government departments and public sector undertakings ( psus ) through multiple finan

jgb services would start their daily operation at 8 : 30 a. m., which is 30 minutes earlier than the present, and close the operation at 7 : 00 p. m., which is two and a half hours later than the present with respect to jgb services. in addition, the bank formed an industry forum in august last year to discuss the possibility of extending the operating hours of the boj - net further beyond 7 : 00 p. m. the forum consists of major market players and industry representatives including of course the iba secretariat and several member institutions of the association. i am very much grateful for your active involvement in this important work. i hear that this industry forum will be soon delivering a report with the results of their reviews and that the discussion has demonstrated that a great majority of participants see a huge advantage in extending the operating hours up to 9 : 00 p. m. as an initial step in maximizing the use of jgbs as collateral in global financial markets and providing their customers outside japan with improved japanese yen remittance services ( chart 9 ). in response to the forthcoming report by the forum, the bank will make its decision on the operating hours and related issues in due course. the extension of the operating hours will conceivably open up a new opportunity for the greater use of jgbs in global financial markets ( chart 10 ). for example, as the discussion of the forum has made clear, market participants in japan would be able to deliver jgbs to ccps and trading counterparties overseas in response to a margin call for derivatives transactions and get back excess collateral immediately when it becomes available for return. in addition, market participants would be able to obtain liquidity in overseas markets more conveniently with the same - day cross - currency repo against jgbs. further, financial institutions with a large amount of jgbs in their portfolios would see a greater opportunity for transactions in global securities lending markets for high - quality collateral assets. c. the future of jgb settlement as i said earlier, in the future of jgb settlement, the smooth delivery of jgbs and associated payments in the japanese yen across borders and across time zones will no longer be a luxury that may be unaffordable today. the bank will strive toward such future vision in close cooperation with market participants. in doing so, we will be making japanese financial markets more attractive to diverse sources of investment. as part of those efforts, the bank