best endowed to add the most value. the required sectoral redistribution of labour is unlikely to take place if region - and industry - wide collective bargaining agreements continue to prevent each firm ’ s wages from being linked more closely to productivity. with the labour reform, spaniards should adopt the same attitude shown by other countries in the reform of their financial system. those countries which had serious problems with their banks have acknowledged their failure and have set to work to reform regulations that failed. they are thus examining what has been done in other countries, including spain, so that those banking problems do not return. together with the secretary of state for economic affairs, i am participating in financial security board ( fsb ) discussions to radically reform the financial systems of all countries. both of us have had the privilege to witness how spanish banking regulation and supervision is being carefully appraised and, insofar as is possible, it is intended to take advantage of the good work done in the past in spain. we in spain should take this same attitude to learning. we should recognise that we have failed in labour regulation since, for the third time in recent decades, unemployment has approached the unacceptable figure of 20 %. we should therefore find out what other countries are doing with their labour institutions and try to incorporate into spanish legislation whatever seems most reasonable to achieve their low unemployment rates and their high labour productivity levels. unfortunately, we are at a historic crossroads. if we do not undertake ambitious labour reform, the spanish economy will enter a tough and complicated period, in which not only will growth be lower than it would be with extensive reform, but, moreover, its impact on public finances will be extremely negative, making it difficult to achieve the targets set in the stability plan. the same can be said of the banking system, since if we undertake sufficiently extensive reform, we will be able to reasonably negotiate the current crisis ; otherwise, banks would have to ultimately focus on the battle against bad debts and on the difficulties in obtaining external funding, and the authorities would have to focus on restructuring the banks that have deteriorated to the point of being clearly inviable. however, if we take advantage of this historic moment and carry out far - reaching labour reform, we will face a more positive scenario in which spanish firms could promptly raise their competitiveness in the difficult ( for these purposes ) environment of a monetary union. spain would enter a scenario in which increased productivity would provide a significant boost to its best firms. this would be particularly positive for smes

them up, the authorities benefit from dialogue with customers and market players. a significant rise in financial literacy is a necessary condition the governor ’ s concluding remarks annual report 2021 banca d ’ italia to ensure that customers ’ ability to choose is improved and supervisory rules and actions are better able to protect consumers. the use of distributed ledger technologies ( dlt ) can enhance efficiency in the supply of financial services and afford significant benefits to customers. the reduction in payment times and in the costs connected to the issuance and circulation of financial instruments is spurring a widening in the pool of investors and deepening the markets for assets that have not been considered very liquid so far. on this front, in italy as in other european countries, pilot initiatives are being designed in connection with the forthcoming introduction of an eu regulation establishing a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on dlt. these technologies are used for the issuance and trading of crypto - assets. the latter term, for which internationally agreed taxonomies are still lacking, refers to a highly heterogeneous set of instruments. an important distinction should be made between crypto - assets whose issuance is backed by real or financial assets ( known as ‘ fully - backed stablecoins ’ ) and those for which there are no such underlying assets. the former, if adequately regulated and when issued by clearly identified entities, can maintain a relatively stable value over time and provide services to the economy. the latter – including algorithmic stablecoins, which have stabilization mechanisms based on automated rules that adjust supply based on changes in demand – have no intrinsic value, are highly volatile and, as a result, are exposed to significant risks of a run ; they are mostly used for speculative purposes. depending on their characteristics, crypto - assets can therefore have different levels of riskiness, something that regulation must take into account when laying down the rules governing them. a step in the right direction is the european commission ’ s proposal for a regulation addressing these markets ( markets in crypto - assets regulation, micar ), which sets out common rules for the issuance and offer of crypto ‑ assets to the public as well as the requirements for the provision of related services, such as their purchase, custody and sale. some issues, however, remain open, such as the possibility for customers to access crypto - asset markets without going through regulated entities. we are aware of additional risks – that are often not fully understood by customers – arising from the use of un