to be aware of. if there are a lot of you trying to get approval, and only one of us, don ’ t expect that you can all present us with your models at the last minute and expect a one - to - one service. if too many firms leave their preparations too late, then we will have to prioritise – if you want to be sure, then get in as early as you can. naturally, a significant proportion of our work relates to internal model approval, given the complex nature of many models and the detailed requirements of the solvency ii tests and standards. but the large volume of other solvency ii work is certainly not being ignored. part of the purpose of this conference is to draw attention to the requirements in relation to the standard formula, other approvals and reporting requirements ; which affect both internal model and standard formula firms. the title of today ’ s conference is “ countdown to implementation ” and in the sessions that follow we will : • set out, as far as policy certainty allows, some of the key requirements and deadlines for firms between now and 1 / 1 / 16 ; • provide you with the information you need to be ready for transposition and implementation ; • and provide an opportunity for you to ask questions and discuss key topics with representatives from the bank. on the internal model approval process ( imap ), good progress is now being made by some firms on their models ; however many of you are behind and timelines look very tight for remedial action. in order for the pra to review models, we must receive all necessary documentation and evidence of compliance in good time and produced to a sufficient standard. the deadline for pre - application submissions is march 2015 ; although firms should be striving to submit as soon as they are ready to give themselves more time to respond to pra feedback on their models. i understand that some of your work depends on responses by us – i can assure you that we will be making our best endeavours to react quickly and make any remaining decisions or give necessary guidance as soon as we are able. as governor mark carney noted in his speech in september, the pra will not hesitate to withhold approval for inadequate or opaque models. the responsibility to meet the solvency ii tests and standards rests solely with firms and their senior management. although the bank will continue to work with firms as they finalise their models, be under no illusion that each model will be assessed comprehensively and objectively against

the rt hon sir edward george : reflections on the uk ’ s economic performance over the past year and future challenges speech by the rt hon sir edward george, governor of the bank of england, at the lord mayor's dinner for bankers and merchants of the city of london, 20 june 2001. * * * my lord mayor, mr chancellor, my lords, aldermen, mr recorder, sheriffs, ladies and gentlemen. it is always a privilege, my lord mayor, and a pleasure, to be invited to enjoy the splendour, and the generous hospitality, of the mansion house on the occasion of this annual dinner for the merchants and bankers of the city of london. you provide us with an opportunity – in an atmosphere of calm – to reflect upon the events of the year that has gone by and upon the challenges to come. and the past year certainly has been eventful – though it is notable that some of those events did not result in particularly dramatic change. i think particularly of the election and i congratulate the government on the outcome, and you, chancellor, on your own re - appointment. i very much look forward to continuing to work with you. but i think, too, of our relatively stable overall economic performance – despite the devastating effect on many farmers, and on rural communities more generally, of foot and mouth disease ; despite the weather and the floods ; despite the disruption on the railways ; and despite, above all, the pressures on the internationally - exposed sectors of our economy as a result of developments abroad. in this last context, my lord mayor, i was struck by a recent newspaper comment to the effect that if we were living on an island we'd be in reasonably good shape. now i have to confess that i'd always been under the impression that we were living on an island, but i let that pass. what i think the writer was drawing attention to is the fact that despite the recent global economic slowdown – notably in the united states, despite the continuing weakness of the euro, and despite the sharp rise in crude oil prices over the past year, we have in fact, in terms of our own overall economy, enjoyed another year of steady progress. gdp growth in the year to the first quarter – at 2. 6 % – remained above our longer term trend rate, and was above the rate of inflation, whether measured by the gdp deflator or our target measure of retail price inflation ( rpix ), for