reflected in consumer spending through the cost and availability of credit. 5 • while speeding up the transmission of policy decisions through the term structure and asset prices, financial innovation weakens the so - called “ bank lending channel ”. traditionally, interest rate increases were thought to decrease banks ’ credit supply ( through a reduced availability of core deposits ), which in turn would affect those borrowers that mostly depend on bank credit for external financing. asset securitisation increases banks ’ liquidity and reduces their funding needs in the event of a monetary tightening, while also allowing them to transfer part of credit risk to the markets, thereby easing regulatory capital requirements when needed. 6 moreover, a wider range of borrowers is now able to make recourse to financial markets as a substitute for banking sources of financing. there are still, however, a number of open questions : • first, is the broad credit channel really weaker? true, the relevance of the “ bank lending channel ” is affected negatively by loan securitisation and the emergence of non - bank lenders. however, as i have mentioned, the effects that work through the value of collateral and the balance sheets of firms and households ( the so - called “ financial accelerator ” ) are changing, but certainly not losing importance. the conditions at which bank and non - bank lenders are able to attract external funds or f. altissimo, e. georgiou, t. sastre, m. t. valderrama, g. sterne, m. stocker, m. weth, k. whelan and a. willman, “ wealth and asset price effects on economic activity ”, ecb occasional paper no. 29, june 2005. l. guiso, m. paiella and i. visco ( 2006 ), “ do capital gains affect consumption? estimates of wealth effects from italian households ’ behavior ”, in l. r. klein ( ed. ), long run growth and short - run stabilization. essays in memory of albert ando, edward elgar, london, 2006. j. muellbauer, “ housing, credit and consumer expenditure ”, paper presented to the kansas city federal st st reserve ’ s jackson hole symposium, 31 august – 1 september 2007 ; c. carroll, m. otsuka and j. slacalek, “ how large is the housing wealth effect? a new approach ”, johns hopkins university economics working paper 535, 2006. y

the rapid adoption of new financial technologies ( fintech ) has the potential to expand direct access to finance, increase the effectiveness and efficiency of investment processes, and generate substantial savings for investors. the covid - 19 crisis has accelerated the adoption of new financial technologies, a topic we will also talk about today. this poses several challenges for central banks, including the bank of italy. as recent events ( gamestop / robinhood ) have highlighted, the mass adoption of financial technology, which is certainly a positive development, can also create risks for financial stability, investor protection and market integrity. financial regulation, therefore, must also mitigate these risks so as to avoid hindering the pace of innovation. our role in financial education is even more important at a time when small investors are empowered with sophisticated new tools that allow them to manage their savings autonomously. as a micro - and macro - prudential authority, the bank of italy is called on to stimulate and favour the adaptation of the business models of all intermediaries under our supervision to the increasing pace of technological adoption, to ensure that they remain safe, sound and supportive of the real economy despite the competitive pressures put on them by new players. we are a major participant on financial markets both as an investor and as a provider of technology ( e. g., payment and settlement platforms ). we need to keep abreast of new technologies and integrate them into our processes. an essential pre - requisite for good regulation and for playing a pro - active role in the rise of fintech is a thorough understanding of the innovation processes taking place in the market, which today ’ s presentations will help us to develop. i would like to make one final comment on the current low interest rate environment. one of the biggest challenges of the current investment landscape, especially for long - term investors such as pension funds and insurance corporations, is the low interest rate environment that has prevailed since the great financial crisis. low interest rates have been determined not only by highly accommodative monetary policies, made necessary by the rapid succession of unprecedented crises ( including the current one ), but also by real and structural factors that we are still striving to fully understand. i am sure that today ’ s research contributions will help us to make a step forward in this direction. to conclude the word ‘ april ’ comes from the latin verb “ aperire ", which means “ to open ". it is commonly believed that the word refers to the season when