” decision is precisely – a decision. if we are not participating, we are de facto outside the cooperation which the participating member states have now begun. i find that unwise. in all fairness, i should say that it would not be a disaster if we waited or if we chose to opt out. there is a life outside the banking union. but non - participation will have some implications and bring some challenges that we will have to take into account in the coming years, should that be the path we choose. the implications may seem small today, but in the longer run they could be considerable. going forward, denmark cannot expect to be compared with the members of the banking union when international players try to assess the risks in the danish banking sector. instead, relevant benchmarks will be sweden and switzerland. as in denmark, the assets of the largest banks in these countries amount to approximately 1. 5 times gdp. in these countries, which will not be joining the banking union, the authorities already impose stricter bis central bankers ’ speeches requirements on the largest banks than we do. people will invariably begin to ask whether the danish requirements are sufficiently high. and so will danmarks nationalbank. in addition, it will become relatively more costly for international investors to invest in danish credit institutions. inside the banking union, investors will have to study one single rulebook and the ecb ’ s implementation of this rulebook before assessing which of the many banks within the union to invest in. we will be a small country outside the banking union. investors will have to understand our unique national setup – and where it deviates from the banking union – before assessing which danish banks they might want to invest in. that will require a lot in terms of communication from banks and authorities. but no matter how good our communication is, international investors will need to be compensated for the extra resources spent understanding our particularities. when we discuss the banking union, one issue always crops up in denmark – and not without reasons. that is the danish mortgage credit system. and, indeed, the mortgage credit system is one of the uncertainties that make the danish bankers association say “ wait and see ”. again, i do not quite follow your argument. in recent years, denmark has applied considerable political muscle to ensure that our mortgage credit system has a place in the new single european regulation. we have negotiated with 27 member states, all with their separate national interests to safeguard. and the negotiations went well. this does not mean that current

ravi menon : foundational infrastructures for an inclusive digital economy opening remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the launch of report on foundational digital infrastructures, 26 april 2021. * * * the rapid adoption of digital solutions has enhanced the economic and social well - being of millions of people around the world. but many of these solutions are not interoperable. digital transactions are not seamless and we are not able to exploit the full efficiency benefits of digitalisation. it also means that the digital economy is not as inclusive as it should be. to create a truly efficient and inclusive digital economy, digitalisation must be end - toend. digital innovation is not just about the number of patents or the sophistication of the algorithms. we must put people at the heart of innovation, by creating end - to - end digital solutions that will purposefully improve their lives. we need foundational digital infrastructures – systems that allow different users, different solutions, and different devices to seamlessly interact with one another. foundational digital infrastructures will enable interoperable solutions and seamless digital services to reach more people and businesses, at lower cost and greater convenience. they will enable more pervasive digitalisation within and across economies. just as physical infrastructures like railroads helped to advance the industrial economy, digital infrastructures will spur the growth of the digital economy. the public and private sectors must come together to co - create common digital infrastructures, and avoid the pitfalls of isolated technology solutions - ‘ digital islands ’ and ‘ walled gardens ’. as a step in this direction, mas, together with the central banks of brunei, cambodia, ghana and kenya, and with support from mastercard, has published a report on ‘ foundational digital infrastructures for inclusive digital economies ’. there are four foundational digital infrastructures. first, digital identity. a digital identity establishes confidence and trust at both ends of the digital interaction. it enables access to the realm of public and private digital services across different sectors ; it promotes digital inclusion. a digital identity may be centralised or decentralised, provided by the public sector or private sector. how it is designed will depend on a country ’ s institutional and legal frameworks, digital literacy, and culture and attitudes towards issues such as privacy and security. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches second, authorisation and consent. to foster public confidence that digital transactions are safe and secure, we need mechanisms for