become a common occurrence as advances in technology further improve the capability of mobile devices to rival even current personal computers. it is interesting to note that there are also non - bank institutions 1 that deploy atms to serve the needs of the depositing public in remote areas of our country. thus, today, banking services are within reach of segments of the population that previously had no access due to geographic and cost constraints. all these have resulted in greater convenience to the public who can now choose to bank anytime, anywhere. in the same vein, banks have also benefited from these technological advances, as efficiencies improve and operational costs are reduced. indeed, the philippine banking industry continues to undergo rapid and extensive transformation, due largely to improvements and innovations in communications and information technology. nevertheless, even as we mention its upside, we recognize that these technological innovations carry risks, which must closely be monitored, managed and balanced against the benefits. examples of private sector atm deployers are nationlink and encash. in response to this need, bsp has undertaken the following : created specialized supervision units such as that for information technology ; issued circulars to guide the development of electronic banking as well as to ensure consumer protection and awareness ; and adopted international best practices to keep us at par with the rest of the world. the increasing interdependencies of banking, telecommunications, and information technology, pose a challenge for bsp to continuously adapt to a rapidly evolving technological and business environment. nevertheless, with the support and cooperation of all stakeholders, such as globe and innove …. i am confident our vision of a globally competitive financial industry will be realized, eventually. finally, let me conclude by congratulating globe telecom and innove communications on the launch of globequest touchpoint. this is indeed a vital empowering solution toward providing the public with anytime, anywhere access to banking services. i hope you will continue to generate even better and more cost - efficient technology solutions. maraming salamat po at magandang gabi sa inyong lahat!

outside of the purview of regulatory agencies. responding to these developments is a fine balancing act. while continuing to focus on their monetary policy and financial stability mandates, central banks also need to respond to market developments that can potentially introduce risk into the broader financial system. in a quest to embrace innovation in the fintech space, the sarb is working on several collaborative efforts under the auspices of the intergovernmental fintech working group ( ifwg ). initiatives include participation in exploratory work on ‘ open finance ’, collaboration with innovators in the ‘ regulatory sandbox ’, and work on multiple central bank digital currencies ( cbdcs ) for international settlement through project dunbar. the sarb is also committed to bringing crypto - assets into the regulatory ambit given the growth and proliferation of these assets and the resulting risks they pose in the page - 9 - of 13 form of illicit financial flows, among others. in june 2021 the ifwg released a position paper on the need to regulate crypto assets in a phased and structure manner. as a member of the financial stability board, we have been participating in discussions for the need to coordinate these efforts globally. in april 2022, the project khokha 2 ( pk2 ) report was released - the culmination of work involving experimentation with distributed ledger technology ( dlt ). it explores the impact of tokenisation of financial assets through the issuance of a sarb debenture – or debt security - on dlt, and highlights a number of legal, regulatory and policy implications when applying this technology in financial markets. climate change climate change has emerged as a key threat to economic and financial stability and a lived reality for millions of people, domestically and globally. the floods that wreaked havoc in kwazulu - natal in january of this year and again in april represent a tiny fraction of the climate - related destruction visited on the global economy in the year under review. 2 greater rainfall in the eastern parts of south africa and less in the west are clear developments that our economy will need to adjust to. catastrophic weather events occur more frequently, and with greater damage. important projects on climate change are taking place within the sarb. these projects are being implemented through various policy and support areas. the economic research department is assessing the implications of climate related shocks for monetary policy execution and implementation. climate change and the transition to a greener economy have the potential to generate larger, longer and often more