, our latest financial stability soundness indicators for the period ended december 2015, indicate that uganda ’ s banking sector continues to be resilient and financially sound. the supportive financial infrastructure also remains safe and efficient. the banking sector registered a strong asset and capital base with the capital adequacy ratio of 18. 6 percent as of december 2015, far higher than the statutory minimum of 8 percent. the sector ’ s asset quality remains good with the ratio of non - performing loans to total loans recorded at 5. 3 percent during the period under review. bis central bankers ’ speeches just like the bustling economic activity of the bugolobi area established the right context for a new stanchart branch here ; the timing of this branch opening is a resounding endorsement of the durability of price stability and financial sector soundness in the ugandan economy. it is the synergetic combination of forward - looking and pre - emptive monetary policy, through our inflation targeting lite monetary policy framework, together with risk - based regulation and supervision of banks as well as macroprudential financial stability management that have enabled the bank of uganda to foster the evident price and financial sector stability. in this effort, we acknowledge the supportive fiscal environment that has been established through implementation of the public finance management act. the institutional framework exists, to ensure long - term macroeconomic stability in uganda. the public has good grounds to have confidence in the economy ; just like standard chartered is demonstrating by expanding its branch network today. this is the sort of stability that alan greenspan advocated. with these few remarks, let me conclude by congratulating the shareholders, board of directors, management, and staff of standard chartered bank uganda for opening a branch in this village mall of bugolobi. i encourage you to use your growing branch network as well as technological innovation to boost financial inclusion and take advantage of the imminent introduction of bancassurance, agency banking, and islamic finance. it is now my honour to officially open the bugolobi branch of standard chartered at the village mall. i wish you great success at this new location. thank you for listening to me. bis central bankers ’ speeches

commercial banks in 2004. the licensing ban had been put in place following several bank failures in the late 1990s. you may recall that these bank failures resulted in the enactment of the financial institutions act, ( fia ) 2004 with more stringent regulatory standards that required new entrants to undergo rigorous due diligence and meet higher minimum capital requirements. kcb uganda has expanded to a bank with a branch network of sixteen branches across the country and has registered significant growth in its balance sheet and shareholder capital over the years. ladies and gentlemen, these are no mean achievements given the increasing competition in the banking sector. financial services ’ providers need to innovate continuously to remain competitive. in this regard, the bank has positioned itself as one of the leading providers of digital banking solutions in the market. it recently upgraded its core banking system to support the bank ’ s digitalization. mission : to foster price stability and a sound financial system macroeconomic stability vision : to be a centre of excellence in upholding the next decade promises to be even more exciting and challenging for banks in uganda. it will be characterized by accelerated dynamism in form of adoption of new technologies and service models that offer advantages but also pose new risks. it is a period in which fintech can be applied to spur efficiency gains in the financial sector, offer more specialized, better and more targeted products and services, and deepen financial inclusion. it is still too early to gauge the full impact of the current technological progress on the banking sector. however, it is not untenable to say that there is potential for many of the services and products currently on offer by banks and other financial market players to be rendered obsolete by new tech - savvy entrants or more competitive processes. with the increased use of technology in our daily lives, banks will be required to adopt more efficient mechanisms of leveraging the vast quantities of consumer and firm data. the advent of new fintech has implications for financial stability and the attendant regulation and supervision frameworks. first, a number of these financial services and products stretch beyond the realm of the existing supervisory and regulatory framework. second ; the near universal use of technological solutions could entail increased vulnerability to cyberattacks and inadequacies with respect to compliance with anti - money laundering and anti - terrorism financing regulations. to respond to these new risks and vulnerabilities, our regulatory framework will also have to change fundamentally from the present focus on intermediaries or “ entity - based ”