Financial sector news

At the end of November, the National Bank held its seventh international round table on strategic management. This year's theme was “Flexibility, Digitalization, and Innovation: A New Era of Strategic Development for Central Banks.”

Participants discussed challenges and opportunities, new approaches to strategic management, and shared their experiences and findings from analyzing current trends in digital transformation in the financial sector.
Almost 100 representatives of central banks and other financial regulators from 32 countries took part in this large-scale online event, including Azerbaijan, Argentina, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Great Britain, Armenia, Georgia, Estonia, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Germany, North Macedonia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, Chile, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Sweden. Representatives of the ECB, IMF, IFC, World Bank, OECD, and other foreign and Ukrainian organizations also joined the event.

In his speech, the Governor of the National Bank outlined the main trends in strategic development for modern central banks:

• The transition from a static to a dynamic strategy. Modern central banks must operate according to adaptive models, with shorter strategic cycles, regular reviews of priorities, and decisions based on real-time data.
  
  
• Technological transformation as a strategic tool. Innovative development must be systematically integrated into operational models and strategic documents, ensuring the predictability and manageability of technological changes;
  
  
• Human capital as a strategic advantage. Developing employee competencies in digital technologies and fostering a culture of partnership and responsible leadership are the foundation for institutional resilience.
  
  

Andriy Pyshnyy also noted that for the National Bank, strategic documents have become tools for adapting to high volatility, rather than mere formal declarations. "The strategic management process is the foundation of our activities. We clearly demonstrate and confirm that strategy is not just a declaration, but a living tool that shapes our behavior and role in the state and in the global financial space. This is our response to uncertainty, a guarantee for citizens and financial market participants, and a commitment to future generations," emphasized the NBU Governor.

Among the key topics discussed by participants were the following:

• the future of financial services and the role of the central bank;
  
• new approaches to strategic management and performance management, namely dynamic and scenario planning, iterative approaches to strategic management;
  
• the growing role of strategic foresight;
  
  
• ways to optimize the organizational structure of central banks and resource management for successful strategy implementation;
  
  
• the role of digitalization in optimizing the process of monitoring and reporting on strategy implementation;
  
  
• enhancing the internal capacity of central banks for change;
  
  
• digital transformation and simplification of operational processes;
  
  
• practical cases of artificial intelligence application in central banks.
  
  

First Deputy Governor of the National Bank Serhiy Nikolaychuk noted that over seven years, the National Bank's initiative has grown into a powerful international collaboration on strategic management, thanks to which central banks and financial regulators can remain even more resilient and ready for the future.

The event clearly demonstrated a global transformation: regulators are no longer isolated institutions, but are increasingly engaging in collaborative formats to exchange best practices and jointly develop new technologies.