andreas dombret : international cooperation is the answer – shaping the regulatory and supervisory architecture speech by dr andreas dombret, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at a reception to welcome ms jenny kilp, bundesbank representative in south africa and financial attache at the german embassy in pretoria, pretoria, 29 august 2016. * * * ladies and gentlemen, thank you, ambassador streicher, for hosting this event here at the german embassy in pretoria. i am more than pleased that governor kganyago and deputy governor mminele is here today. thank you for your remarks, governor. deutsche bundesbank today introduces, with ms jenny kilp, its first representative to south africa – and the african continent as a whole. the step marks the beginning of a frequent exchange of information on financial and monetary policy issues, the aim being to allow each country to better understand the other ’ s economic and financial interests and to facilitate cooperation in international fora. by expanding its representative network, the bundesbank pursues the goal of being present in the main industrialised and emerging countries and of following developments in almost all g20 countries, either directly or indirectly. in this sense, south africa has been something of a white spot on the bundesbank ’ s map of representative offices and representatives at german embassies, given the growing role played by the country and the african continent at large in international economic and financial policy. the bundesbank recognises the economic importance and potential of the continent and of south africa in particular by delegating ms. kilp to pretoria. ladies and gentlemen, international cooperation is the answer to a world that has been growing together ever closer for decades. the world in which we live has become rather small. and in a small world, every policymaker in every country must be aware that his or her decisions can influence other countries as well. this holds especially true for financial sector : financial markets in particular have become integrated to such a degree that a small distortion at one end of the world can quickly spread and affect the entire system. we as central bankers and banking supervisors have adapted to these developments by cooperatively harmonising regulation and supervisory practices across the globe, step by step. the evolvement of the basel accords since the mid - 1970s is one of the most prominent outcomes of this process. in 2007, the financial crisis shook up financial markets and challenged governments, central banks and supervisory authorities worldwide. and from the beginning

launched the extensible business reporting language ( xbrl ) project that will simplify data collection and reporting by banks and other regulated institutions while also facilitating in - depth and timely analysis at the bank. we have continued with process re - engineering and organisational restructuring to deliver on our extended mandate, to meet new challenges, and to incorporate new technology. in addition to the intelligence, compliance, and enforcement section mentioned earlier, we also set up a specialised unit for reserve management to serve as the nucleus for a middle office and risk management division which we created just after the period covered by this report. we re - jigged the economic research division and tasked it with developing our forecasting and modeling capacity to support our expected move to an explicit inflation targetingregime. none of these moves would have been possible without recruiting new staff, with the requisite experience, at an appropriate level in the bank ’ s hierarchy. already a technologyintensive industry, banking will become a battlefield for still more disruptive technologies in future. an ageing staff, with dated skills and outmoded work habits, will be hard - pressed to cope with the emerging challenges facing the regulator. we placed considerable emphasis on upgrading our in - house skills and recruiting new blood. we opened our doors to regular graduate interns two years ago. we followed it up this year by launching a graduate trainee programme which will allow the bank to spot potential new recruits, enhance its professional competence, and rejuvenate its workforce. the rupee goes polymer last august, the honourable prime minister launched our very first polymer bank notes, which have been in circulation since then. i am happy to say that two of the three polymer bank notes have received international recognition. the rs25 polymer bank note and the rs500 polymer bank note were shortlisted for their state - of - the - art security features at the international association of currency affairs 2014 technical excellence in currency awards. our rs25 bank note came out 2nd in this contest. i am pleased to say that our efforts to adhere to the highest standards in all business areas have paid dividends. words of appreciation i have always been guided by my sens du devoir in discharging the immense responsibility entrusted to me by the prime minister to lead the central bank of the country in the midst of challenging times for our economy and our people. it has not been an easy ride. my task would have been still more difficult, had i not received the support of the staff of the