managing financial crises and alternative courses of action proliferate. politicians, whether or not they have the authority over the decision to intervene, want to satisfy themselves that intervention is justified and what is proposed is the right way forward. often the process of arriving at a consensus takes time and meanwhile the problem worsens and the effectiveness of the actions to be taken is eroded. i believe therefore that those responsible for the maintenance of monetary and financial stability should have the necessary emergency powers to do what is required independently and promptly. there is of course the need for transparency and accountability when exercising these powers to ensure appropriate checks and balances. at a time when many jurisdictions and international forums are reviewing the financial regulatory structure, the ability or inability of the financial authorities to take unusual action, independently and promptly, to protect the public interest should be addressed. my fourth and last issue is an involvement. this concerns the extent to which the authorities should be involved in the development of the financial infrastructure. i am sure you are aware of the huge amount of public money spent in all jurisdictions in the development of the physical infrastructure, building highways, bridges and airports to take people and goods from one place to another safely and efficiently, thus facilitating the conduct of economic activities for the benefit of all. authorities, however, seem to devote only disproportionately small amounts of resources to the development of the financial infrastructure to move money and financial instruments from one entity to another safely and efficiently for the purpose of enhancing financial efficiency that promotes economic prosperity. to some extent, the development of the financial infrastructure can be left to the market, with swift being a sterling example of private sector initiative in this area. but many of the important elements of the financial infrastructure are public goods, the provision of which, in a form that serves the public interest best, may not be financially viable for the private sector. furthermore, the conflict i mentioned earlier often comes in, affecting the willingness or the enthusiasm of the financial intermediaries to develop and use a financial infrastructure that promotes financial efficiency. i believe this is one of the main reasons why x in t + x in the settlement of some financial transitions is still a number other than zero, or why t + x is still not replaced by rtgs dvp even though the technology to do so has been available for some time. very simply therefore there is a case for the authorities to get involved, as a developer or a service provider, when a private sector solution that is in the public interest

darryl chan : opening remarks - treasury markets summit 2024 opening remarks by mr darryl chan, deputy chief executive of the hong kong monetary authority, at the treasury markets summit 2024, hong kong, 27 september 2024. * * * distinguished guests, members and friends of the tma, ladies and gentlemen : good morning. on behalf of the hkma and the tma, a very warm welcome to you all for joining this annual treasury markets summit. the annual event has been, and will continue to be, a great gathering that promotes the sharing of thoughts, ideas and friendship among professionals from the treasury markets and experts from related disciplines. i'd like to congratulate the tma team on curating a highly relevant and interesting programme for this year's summit. special thanks to our panellists who will generously share their insights and foresights on subjects that are so closely related to our day - today work such as china's economic outlook, and subjects that will or may have profound impact on the way financial markets including the treasury markets operate a€ “ here i am referring to cbdc and defi. and, speaking of china's economic outlook, these past couple of days were extraordinary. i am sure we can't wait to hear the sharing by our experts. and of course we also look forward to hearing what eddie has to say about offshore rmb business, a topic that i'm sure concerns almost every one of us here today, and a topic that is hugely important to sharpening the edge of hong kong as an international financial centre. but before we embark on the forward - looking journey, let me take a few minutes to highlight a number of remarkable achievements by the tma in the past year or so. in terms of market infrastructure, the tma's dedicated working group has done a wonderful job in helping market practitioners prepare for the smooth transition of libor to alternative reference rates and facilitating the adoption of hong kong dollar overnight index average, or honia, as an alternative to hibor. no fanfare, but the silence spoke volumes about the hard work behind the scenes. on the introduction this week of severe weather trading in our stock market, the tma has reviewed the arrangements of the financial benchmarks it administers and undertook to continue publishing hkd and cnh fx spot rates during severe weather conditions, facilitating the implementation of the new trading arrangement. the tma also actively provides market perspectives and advice in support of the development of