is the need to adapt today ’ s core banking systems so that they can handle the increased speed. such adaptation will benefit retail payment transactions and provide an important basis for integrating further digital innovations into our payments in a secure way. let me now focus on a second area of innovation that is also benefiting from the increase in speed and could require major adjustments to the financial system. this is distributed ledger technology ( dlt ) and tokenisation. page 6 / 11 dlt and tokenisation dlt is a peer - to - peer computer network that enables its members to access transaction data simultaneously and to update it ( cf. slide 7 ). it provides the basis for a clear allocation of ownership in a computer network without the need for a central party. dlt offers interesting potential applications for the financial sector, and is therefore regarded as one of the biggest innovations in the fintech area. it is no surprise, then, that the private sector is investing considerable resources in this technology. the public sector also recognises its potential. in 2021, switzerland became one of the first countries to adopt a comprehensive legal framework for the application of dlt. besides various adjustments to securities law, a new licence category for dlt trading facilities has been created under the financial market infrastructure act. this has created the basis in switzerland for a regulated token ecosystem. where do you find interesting applications of dlt in today ’ s financial system? the short answer is in the area of financial market infrastructure, which includes trading platforms, securities settlement systems, and payment systems such as the sic system, via which transactions are settled. dlt promises efficiency gains in post - trading, i. e. in the clearing, settlement and custody of assets. a shared ledger increases transparency and simplifies the booking of transactions. in addition, it eliminates the need for costly and error - prone reconciliation processes between different databases on different systems. moreover, dlt also allows assets such as securities, works of art or money to be securitised in the form of digital tokens, represented in a decentralised and fraud - proof network, and managed. standardisation allows assets of different types to be represented as tokens on a shared infrastructure. transfers of tokens can be programmed in the form of ‘ smart contracts ’. dlt enables the efficient and low - risk settlement of transactions. for example, the transfer of tokenised assets versus tokenised money can be effected conditionally according to preprogrammed logic. 5

benjamin e diokno : welcome remarks to the grips academic conference welcome remarks by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), to the grips academic conference, manila, 21 june 2019. * * * mr. takehiko nakao, president and chair of the board of directors of the asian development bank ( adb ), dr. akihiko tanaka, president of the national graduate institute for policy studies ( grips ), distinguished session presenters and discussants, grips alumni, faculty members and staff, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. welcome to the first ever bsp - grips academic conference. with the theme “ public policy for sustainable development goals, ” this conference is a special one as it is, in fact, a triple event. not only is this conference being held as part of the 70 years ’ celebration of central banking in the philippines, it also commemorates the 20th year anniversary of grips and the 40th year anniversary of its predecessor, the graduate school of policy science ( gsps ). for this, let us give ourselves a round of applause ( gov. leads everyone to applause ). as the samurai, yamamoto tsunetomo, said over 300 years ago in the book hagakure : the book of the samurai, “ wisdom comes from paying attention to wise people. ” and this, i believe, is what grips — and its predecessor gsps — has been doing over the last 40 years. that is helping us achieve wisdom by creating a venue where we can listen to wise people and hone the skills of policymakers worldwide, acquire valuable and innovative ideas to strengthen their knowledge, and formulate research - based studies to support worthwhile policymaking. all this using a comparative perspective and practical approach, with due consideration to japan ’ s wide - ranging experience and utmost consideration of country - specific issues and circumstances. needless to say, there are many wise people in this conference. browsing through the line - up of the paper presentations, i could also see many timely, relevant, and innovative policy ideas that may emanate from such discussions. from the impact of innovation in achieving inclusiveness ; the bsp ’ s role in the process of state building in the philippines ; to the relationship of financial literacy to achieving financial inclusion — these are rich subject matters worthy of much discussion. i leave this up to all of you to discuss policy and its practical implications in the ensuing