normally involve larger investments and for a longer period than many other types of investments. they also involve complicated land acquisition, environmental, labour and other social issues that require strong support or facilitation by the host government in their resolution. however, infrastructure investments, if properly designed and run, can bring about steady and long - term cash flow and good return to the invested capital. moreover, the space of infrastructure in the developed world is getting increasingly crowded, with yields or returns steadily declining as there is an abundance of capital chasing after limited opportunities. in contrast, there is enormous headroom and potential for infrastructure investments in the emes. the crucial issue is how to channel the capital to the investments or turn more projects into “ bankable ” or “ investible ” projects. 7. in this context, banks and multilateral development institutions play a crucial part. they have the necessary technical expertise in the relevant fields and the requisite local knowledge to underwrite greenfield projects. this is a riskier phase of an infrastructure investment but banks are good at doing this. however, the new capital standards for banks do not make it attractive for them to hold on to these loans on a long term basis, even though the projects at the brownfield stage are operating smoothly. at the same time, there are many other investors, including insurance and pension funds, which may be looking for less risky investments that can produce steady long - term cash flow. therefore i can see a good opportunity for banks to offload their loans to these long - term investors. however, it is easier said than done. there are many issues that need to be tackled. just to name a few : the large transaction size of infrastructure loans makes concentration risk of ( a ) collateral a more prominent issue to be addressed, say as compared to the securitisation of a portfolio of mortgage loans comprising a large number of loans but with each being relatively small in size ; apart from being large in size, infrastructure loans tend to be significantly less homogenous than the other types of asset for securitisation. in fact, infrastructure ( b ) loans tend to be “ unique ” rather than “ common ”, and each can have its own risks and corresponding mitigation structures, which would pose challenges to the 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches structuring, rating and assessment processes ; given such unique nature of infrastructure loans, originating and managing an ( c ) infrastructure loan portfolio require the asset manager to possess highly specialized skillsets

come cheaply but it is the price that people know that they have to pay for the protection of their physical properties. 3. in the cyber world, just like the real world, there are plenty of risks and dangers. financial crimes will occur whenever there is money to be made and for sure criminals and hackers alike will use their best endeavours to penetrate the defence of the cyber world to rob or steal. the strength of the cyber world also lies its main weakness. hackers can choose to attack customers and financial firms any time and anywhere because the virtual world is highly interconnected. cyber attacks can take many different forms. a frequently used method is to make phishing attempts to trick customers into divulging their account information and passwords, or to plant malwares into customers ’ computers and mobile phones to steal their access credentials. then the hackers transfer moneys from the victims ’ accounts. sometimes the hackers would do something unusual, such as the recent example in bis central bankers ’ speeches hong kong in which some customers ’ bank accounts had been used by hackers to conduct unauthorized stock trading without stealing money from the victims ’ accounts. at the bank level, the usual form of attacks would be distributed denial of services ( ddos ), whether they are motivated by blackmail, revenge or activism of some sort. there is a worrying trend that this form of attacks is rising very fast in recent years. cybersecurity fortification initiative 4. rather than harbouring the hope that you are lucky enough not to be targeted, it is more prudent and productive to take the necessary pre - emptive steps to protect yourself or your customers from cyber attacks. cybersecurity is the very foundation of modern banking and without it there is no point for us to boast hong kong as a world class international financial centre. while banks in hong kong have so far had very few incidents of serious cyber attacks, there is no place for complacency if we wish to maintain hong kong ’ s competitive edge as the preferred financial hub in asia. in this connection, the hkma has earlier this year set up a new fintech facilitation office, which has taken cybersecurity as its top priority mission. having worked very closely with the banking industry and other stakeholders, i am very pleased to announce today that the hkma has decided to launch for the banking system a “ cybersecurity fortification initiative ”, which is known as “ cfi ” in