richard dzina : luncheon remarks at the community bankers conference remarks by mr richard dzina, executive vice president of the financial services group of the federal reserve bank of new york, at the community bankers conference, federal reserve bank of new york, new york city, 18 april 2018. * * * good afternoon. i am conscious that i am the concluding speaker for today ’ s conference, a line usually followed by “ and the only thing that separates you from the bar. ” in this case, i ’ m the only thing that separates you from the gold vault, which may be even more compelling, so i ’ ll keep things brief, but hopefully meaningful. allow me to share two preliminary comments as prelude to formal remarks : first, convening this conference underscores for me and my colleagues that fulfillment of federal reserve mandates in monetary policy, supervision, and financial services does not constitute an end to itself, but a means to an end. the end is to foster conditions and to provide services that support robust and sustainable economic activity on which our nation depends and in which community banks play an integral, indeed indispensable, role. may those of us who have the privilege of serving this great institution, and working within these walls, never forget the ultimate object of our mandate, at which you sit at the center. second, my perspective in addressing you today is not as overseer, or as policy maker, but as head of financial services at the federal reserve bank of new york. in other words, perhaps uniquely in the constellation of the federal reserve system, my colleagues and i work for you. my standing before you represents a visceral reminder of our accountability to depository institutions, independent of size, which rely upon our services to send and receive time critical payments ; to maintain and permit the transfer of fedwire eligible securities ; and to provide cash services to support the needs of consumers and commercial establishments. it is with this orientation that i offer these remarks today, which reflect my own views and do not necessarily represent those of the federal reserve bank of new york or the federal reserve system. the theme of today ’ s conference, appropriately, has been “ navigating future risks for community banks ”. allow me to elaborate upon the single risk that dominates from my vantage, regrettably not a “ future risk ” but an all too present one, and to highlight some of the measures that we are taking in response. the risk to which i refer is not

mr. mcdonough ’ s address on the occasion of the 10th international conference of banking supervisors keynote address by mr. william j. mcdonough, president of the federal reserve bank of new york and chairman of the basle committee on banking supervision, on the occasion of the 10th international conference of banking supervisors held in sydney on 22 / 10 / 98. i am very honored to be here as chairman of the basle committee on banking supervision and as the chairman of this year ’ s international conference of banking supervisors. these are unusually difficult and challenging times for bank supervisors around the globe. turbulence in the financial markets has touched the banking system in virtually every country. to varying degrees and in many different contexts, bank supervisors are dealing with adjustments to their banking systems to assure their strength and vitality. at times like these, bank supervisors have a special role in maintaining financial stability. that role is to facilitate a resolution of banking problems so that the depository institutions will continue to provide the vital lifeline of credit to businesses and consumers. past experience in many countries suggests that even severe problems can be overcome with decisive action by banks to identify problems quickly, recognize losses, strengthen the capital base, and execute a sound, forward - looking business strategy. today, the supervisory community has the same challenge. we must identify the lessons to be learned from the current financial turmoil and address them. moreover, we must do so even while there is continued rapid evolution of financial markets, products and strategies and the constant challenge that evolution poses to our existing supervisory policies and techniques. while the challenge of evolutionary financial markets is clear in countries with financial institutions which are actively involved in the international marketplace, it is no less important for emerging market countries, which increasingly feel the influence of international financial competition. thus, it is appropriate that we are devoting a day to questions of operational risk, an area of rapid evolution in risk management concepts and practice. the most important current operational risk problem, that of preparing for the century date change in the year 2000, has a prominent place on the program and in our national supervisory agendas. i congratulate our hosts, the reserve bank of australia, working in cooperation with the australian prudential regulatory authority, for putting together this program and i thank them for hosting the icbs this year. i would like to focus on the dual role of supervisors in preventing banking problems and in providing the necessary support when there are systemic problems. when the basle committee, in concert with banking supervisors