it easier for the eu and the uk to cooperate in addressing the challenge of tackling unequal regional economic opportunities. however, https : / / www. pbl. nl / publicaties / korte - termijn - gevolgen - van - de - brexit investigating and implementing effective ways to tackle regional inequality, remains a shared interest to all of us. let me conclude by stressing that while the uk will now leave the eu, other alliances between the continent and the uk will remain in place. central banks and supervisors on both side of the channel will continue to coordinate our efforts in the imf, the fsb, the bis and other standard - setting bodies. eu - uk cooperation within the network for greening the financial system demonstrates that our combined impact is greater than the sum of our individual contributions. and new alliances between the eu and the uk will no doubt emerge in the future. specific alliances may change over time, but the most important challenges facing the eu and the uk will continue to bind us. indeed, ultimately, we will always be only 33. 3 kilometers apart. i wish you all an inspiring day and thank you for your attention.

areas across the country that had recently experienced a bank branch closure. we found that small businesses, older people, and people with limited access to transportation are most https : / / www. stlouisfed. org / publications / bridges / fall - 2018 / parents - wealth - helps - explain - racial - disparitiesin - student - loan - debt. see federal reserve bank of richmond and federal reserve bank of atlanta ( 2017 ), small business credit survey : report on rural employer firms ( richmond, va. : frb richmond ), https : / / www. richmondfed. org / / media / richmondfedorg / community _ development / resource _ centers / small _ business / pdf / credit _ survey / sbcs _ report _ rural _ employer _ firms _ 2016. pdf. see randal k. quarles ( 2018 ), “ trends in urban and rural community banks, ” speech delivered at “ community banking in the 21st century, ” sixth annual community banking research and policy conference, st. louis, mo., october 4, https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / newsevents / speech / quarles20181004a. htm. according to 2017 federal deposit insurance corporation summary of deposits data ( available at https : / / www5. fdic. gov / sod ), nonmetro persistent poverty counties had, on average, 0. 36 bank branches per 1, 000 people, compared with 0. 53 for other nonmetro counties. - 9affected. 18 we also learned that the loss of the branch often meant more than the loss of access to financial services ; it also meant the loss of financial advice, local civic leadership, and an institution that brought needed customers to nearby businesses. regulation and supervision need to be carefully tailored to suit the size and business model of different types of institutions. at the fed, we have renewed our efforts to avoid unnecessary regulatory burden on community banks, which provide essential credit in their local communities. another means to address the issue of branch closures is the community reinvestment act, or cra, which encourages banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities they are chartered to serve. the cra has been an important tool for strengthening local communities. the trend toward fewer branches and increased use of technology to deliver financial services presents a particular challenge to our current approach to cra evaluations. specifically, the current regulations use a bank ’ s