is becoming even more important as we strive to deal more effectively with the complex challenges we face today and respond to the evident unequal effects of the pandemic. it is in times of change and uncertainty when qualities such as resilience and innovative thinking are essential, and the value of diversity of background, thought and experience are all the more important. the central bank will continue to require improvements in this area13 ; undertake detailed and thematic reviews14 ; and publish research and information on the issues and progress ( or lack thereof ) in improving diversity and inclusion in regulated rms15. technology and innovation advances in technology are bringing rapid and deep changes to the nancial services sector. these are impacting business models, decision - making, systems and processes, and products. they are having a material effect on the operation of nancial markets, nancial supervision and the economy. financial services rms are looking to innovation, such as increased automation ; digitisation of processes ; the use of algorithms ; and machine learning to deliver cost reductions and ef ciencies, and competitive advantage resulting from improved customer offerings. big data analytics can allow for advanced risk assessment and pricing16. new payment methods and platforms bring challenges for the traditional role and dominance of banks in this area, while digital payment channels have lowered the barrier to entry for alternative providers. innovation has the capacity to bring many bene ts for consumers, the economy and society in general. it is essential to the effective functioning of a competitive economy. customers require rms ’ systems and data to be available, reliable and secure. this is also important for nancial stability reasons. digital transformation can, without proper oversight, increase vulnerabilities in rms ’ it operations, with increased risks around it failures, outages and cyber - attacks. firms must strive to minimise the frequency and impact of issues and have an ability to recover quickly from them. resilient systems are a fundamental pre - requisite for successful innovation. the importance of operational resilience has been further reinforced by the experience of the immediate shock from covid - 19 and the ongoing shift in consumer behaviour and reliance on remote working. given the importance of operational continuity for the stability of the system and for consumers, businesses and the wider economy, we will continue to challenge how rms are ensuring that risk and control frameworks are operating effectively under the current working environment and are prepared for unforeseen operational disruptions. it is important to emphasise that ultimate responsibility for a rm ’ s it

is london just on the crest of a wave or is it swimming with a persistent stream? putting it into perspective to start with, how important is the city? is its press profile greater than its real contribution to the economy? the city ’ s output is hard to measure. 2 we know that financial intermediation as a whole accounted for about 8. 5 % of uk gross value added in 2005. and a recent estimate 3 of the professional services supporting financial services accounted for a further 3. 6 % of economic activity in 2005, giving a total of some 12 %. that compares with around 14 % of gdp for the uk manufacturing sector and the jobs in financial and business services taken together have increasingly outnumbered those in manufacturing. “ sustaining new york ’ s and the us ’ global financial services leadership ”. report by mckinsey & company to mayor michael bloomberg of new york and senator charles schumer ( pages 14 and 54 ). indeed the ons has announced that it will be revising its estimates of the level and composition of gdp to incorporate changes to the measurement and treatment of value added for banks and to take better account of in - house software development. international financial services, london. “ international financial services in the uk ”, november 2006. and since 1999 financial services and insurance taken together have accounted for over 20 % of the uk ’ s exports of services. so it is clear that the financial sector is an important industry for the uk. but financial intermediation covers a great deal more than the city. retail banking and insurance, like other retail services from restaurants to hairdressing, is widely dispersed across the country. in general one would expect this part of the industry to reflect the size of the population and their wealth. to the extent that the uk ’ s industry may be relatively efficient and competitive, we may even have fewer people engaged at this end of the business than some other countries. while in 2003 the share of gross value added from financial intermediation was a little higher for the uk than for france, japan or germany ( 5 %, 7 % and 4 % respectively ) there was not that big a gap and the figures for the us were about the same as the uk ( 8. 5 % ). it is london ’ s position in the wholesale and international markets that is special and it is harder to get a handle on that. a recent estimate put the total number employed in “ city ” jobs at around 320, 000. 4 there are other significant