insurers. solvency ii should not materially drive investment decision making except in so far as it helps to make certain that insurers fully understand the risks that they take. the prudent person principle will seek to ensure that the industry understands and is capable of managing its investment risks. specifically, insurers must be able to demonstrate that they can properly identify, measure, monitor, manage, control and report on their investment risks and not place reliance upon information provided by third parties. investment choices should be made in the best interest of policy holders and beneficiaries. those running a business are best placed to make business decisions. that being said, the pra does have the benefit of perspective. the pra has the ability to look across the industry and can also draw upon the expertise of specialists working across the different areas of the bank of england. whilst on the subject of the role of management, we understand that there has been some uncertainty around our expectations of the non - executive director role for firms that have internal risk models. non - executive board members need not be technical experts in risk modelling. however, each board collectively should understand the key strengths, limitations, and judgements within their model. over - reliance on a single measure can be misleading. therefore, we want non - executives to have the right tools and sufficient knowledge to be able to challenge model outputs, rather than follow them slavishly. benefits to be gained through the implementation of a harmonised regime i have discussed the increased flexibility to be afforded firms in business and investment decisions and the expectations placed upon insurers in their knowledge and understanding of the risk exposures and their models. but i would also like to consider the benefits to be gained through the implementation of a harmonised regime. the benefits of solvency ii do not come from the improved prudential regime alone. insurance markets across the eu have been fragmented. the move towards a more cooperative framework will widen existing opportunities and help create new ones. the new framework seeks to introduce a level playing field across the eu, with risk - based capital standards and robust valuation practices that, together with enhanced disclosure rules, encourage the effective exercise of market discipline through the increased provision of information. from a systemic point of view, a more coherent and understandable regime should enhance confidence in the european insurance industry. this is particularly important at a time where weak real growth is leading to low levels of inflation and interest rates. bis central bankers ’ speeches financial markets

christopher kent : opening panel remarks - fx week australia opening panel remarks by mr christopher kent, assistant governor ( financial markets ) of the reserve bank of australia, at the fx week australia, sydney, 27 march 2019. * * * thanks to fx week for the invitation to discuss the fx global code. when the fx global code was launched in 2017, the aim was that it would promote a robust, fair, liquid and transparent wholesale market. to do that, the code sets out principles of good practice. as awareness of the code builds and more market participants commit to adhering to its principles, standards will no doubt improve across the market. the code has already gained significant traction in the marketplace. a recent survey of market participants by the global foreign exchange committee ( gfxc ) confirmed that awareness of the code within the industry was now very high. almost all of those surveyed had read part or all of the code. furthermore, the vast majority of respondents indicated that they expected or required their counterparties to adhere to the code. globally, there are now more than 800 firms that have signed statements of commitment to the code and lodged them on public registers. so what do we need to do from here? globally, it is clear that the sell - side have embraced the code. what appears to be missing is comparable take - up from the buy side. this is as apparent in australia as it is in other jurisdictions. to some extent, this could be just a lag as buy - side participants take longer to complete the process of reviewing the code and aligning their practices to it. encouragingly, the gfxc ’ s survey showed that while current take - up from the buy - side was low, many of the buy - side respondents indicated that they did intend to adhere and some of those had already begun the process. more broadly, though, the gfxc is conscious that greater take - up from the buy - side will be needed and the gfxc is actively looking at ways to achieve that end. for those in the audience from the buy - side the question i would put to you is : can you justify to your stakeholders — whether they are your investors ( if you are a fund manager ) or shareholders ( if you are a business ) — why you have not adopted a set of principles which represent industry best practice when you are managing their money? the widespread adoption of the code will benefit everyone involved in the fx industry, regardless of where you sit