yourself the question “ how would the financial system have fared if covid had hit in 2007? ” to appreciate the importance of the resilience that has been built up over the last decade. combining a financial crisis with a health and economic crisis would have been profoundly damaging. the building society sector has of course been a very important part of this picture. with more than 25 million members and an average cet1 ratio of more than 26 %, the building society sector was well placed to weather the storm from a financial resilience perspective, extending more than £66 billion of new loans in 2020 and offering a peak of more than 300, 000 payment deferrals to customers in financial difficulty. from an operational perspective, societies also adapted quickly to lockdowns and home - working arrangements, with almost all society branches continuing to serve their members through the pandemic. but the disruption caused by covid - 19 has shown why it is critically important for firms to identify the key services they provide and invest in their resilience. societies – like all of 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches us – have witnessed an acceleration in technology innovation over the last year. continuing to build on these developments and incorporating them into operating models will be important, both for the sector ’ s operational resilience, but also for serving the evolving needs of the sector ’ s members. as we sit here today, the outlook looks better than we might have expected a year ago. but a considerable amount of uncertainty remains, not least as many of the bridging measures put in place by the authorities begin to roll off. though it may now look less likely, additional financial and operational pressures may still be on the horizon, and we will be monitoring that closely. but in the meantime i thought it might be worth us raising our sights a little and having a look at some of the regulatory issues that lie on the other side of the bridge : strong and simple, leverage, mrel and mortgage floors. strong and simple i ’ ll start with strong and simple. avid followers of my speeches – of which i am regularly assured there are at least three across the country, one of whom is robin – might recall that in november last year i gave a speech titled ‘ strong and simple ’. indeed, it turns out that robin is such an avid reader of my speeches that he has themed this entire conference day as ‘ strong and simple ’! i ’ m not quite sure what to make of that

still behind the curve. finally, year 2000 assessment must also evaluate the level of financial resources available to developing countries to successfully complete a readiness program, and funding to constituents for year 2000 initiatives should receive a high priority. closing remarks as i indicated at the outset, the federal reserve views year 2000 preparations with great seriousness. we have placed a high priority on the remediation of date problems and the development of action plans that will ensure business continuity for the critical financial systems we operate. while we have made significant progress, and are on schedule in validating our internal systems and preparing for testing with depository institutions and others using federal reserve services, we must ensure that our efforts remain on schedule and that problems are addressed in a timely fashion. much remains to be done. we intend to be as prepared as is humanly possible, and believe that most u. s. banking institutions will be, as well. so will the central and private banks of various other countries. but we would be greatly comforted if this were the outlook for every nation, and for every industry. at this time, that is not the prospect. let me close by urgently requesting your concern and assistance.