Haruhiko Kuroda: Innovation and the future of finance

Remarks by Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, at the Paris EUROPLACE Financial Forum, Tokyo, 4 December 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

I. Paris International Expositions in the 19th Century - Exploring the Future through New Technologies -

It is a great honor to have the opportunity to give a speech at the Paris Europlace Financial Forum today.

Nowadays, rapid innovation in information technology is significantly changing financial services, and even the economy and society as a whole. It seems that people are thrilled to watch, with hope and a little anxiety, how such innovation will change the world landscape and affect the role of human beings.

Similarly, there was a time in the past when people had strong interest in how new technologies would change the future. Particularly in the late 19th century, with the development of heavy industry, the popularization of electricity, and mass production of new materials such as iron and glass, people wondered how such technological progress would change the economy and society. During that period, Paris hosted international expos as many as five times. These expos presented prospects of the 20th century that new technologies could open up, and brought these technologies closer to ordinary people.