dimiter kostov : the world of finance is becoming more it address by mr dimiter kostov, deputy governor of the bulgarian national bank, banking department and fiscal services department, before the participants in the 14th financial it forum “ the world of finance is becoming more it ”, sofia, 19 april 2012. * * * ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the bulgarian national bank, i have the honour to congratulate you with the opening of the 14th financial it forum. this forum has established itself as an annual opportunity to share experience and ideas, and to view the prospects opened to the financial sector by the information and communication technologies. these results are undoubtedly owing to the organizers of the event, but what is of no less importance is your interest to it. from the point of view of the business, times are still hard for financial intermediation. in the conditions of volatile international financial markets and an unstable economy, the bulgarian banking system is coping well with the challenges and remains stable. the levels of capital adequacy and liquidity remain high. irrespective of the increased impairment costs the banking system continues generating positive results. it is of no little importance, too, that in these conditions the banking system managed to preserve and even to slightly increase its loan portfolio. in the recent three years the economic activity in the country has contracted by about 3 percent, while the loan portfolio not only did not contract, but grew by about 8 percent. the results achieved indicate that in this difficult macroeconomic environment the banking system has not only preserved its reliability, but has continued to perform its economic role of financial intermediary. another positive trend is especially worth noting, prompted by this forum. banks are not focusing only on coping with current issues and obstacles. regardless of the difficulties, banks are putting much thought and effort into developing and implementing new business solutions and products based on the opportunities offered by the information and communications technologies. new solutions are sought not only in the area of good management of risks and business processes, but also in developing new services and sales channels. i would not allow myself to give examples from the experience of one or another bank. the forum will provide plenty of opportunities to find this out for yourselves. i will use as illustration of my words the payment infrastructure. the connectivity achieved by the operator of the main retail payment systems in this country in the past year, presently makes available to the bulgarian banks the so - called sepa connectivity to several thousand banks in the european union

. for ireland ’ s economy to recover, its banking system must be sound and fully functioning. a virtuous cycle must blossom. that will be difficult to instil with banks that remain dependent on eurosystem support. with measures in place to break this dependency, the conditions will be in place for recovery. the foundation for this recovery has already been laid. in late 2010, the ecb played a key role in mitigating the challenges facing the banking system, and in designing programme measures to reverse the situation. i hope you share my view that these measures achieved their initial aims : the stabilisation of the banking system. i know that the decisions concerning the repayment of bondholders in the former anglo irish bank have been a source of controversy. decisions taken by the irish authorities such as these are not taken lightly. and the consequences of subsequent actions are weighed carefully. it is true that the ecb viewed it as the least damaging course to fully honour the outstanding senior debts of anglo. however unpopular that may now seem, this assessment was made at a time of extraordinary stresses in financial markets and great uncertainty. protecting the hard - won gains and credibility from the early successes in 2011 was also a key consideration, to ensure no negative effects spilled - over to other irish banks. determined action and a willingness to take tough, even controversial decisions, has placed ireland ’ s financial system on a steadier footing. a necessary step for ireland to emerge from this crisis will be to ensure the long - term viability of the banking system as a pillar of the irish economy. doing so will further enhance confidence in the system and limit the burden that the banking system places on the taxpayer. any proposal to reorganize and strengthen the irish banking sector, and in this context to replace promissory notes with support from the efsf must meet important criteria, including that it should improve the chances of both the state and the banks returning to market - based funding, and of the banks reducing their extraordinary reliance on the eurosystem. the ecb is ready to work with the irish authorities on such proposals. i understand the strong desire of the authorities to minimise the costs associated with the banking sector rescue, including costs incurred to date, and those still to come. let me make some comments in this area. when the programme for ireland was designed, the costs of the banking sector measures already in place, including the promissory notes, were fully factored in. the