FRANKFURT (MNI) - The worst of the financial crisis has passed and action is being taken to improve the resiliency of the system, but we cannot afford to become complacent, Swiss National Bank Governing Board Vice-Chairman Philipp Hildebrand said.

Despite the recovery of the financial industry, there are a number of reasons why financial regulatory reforms remain necessary, Hildebrand said in a speech for delivery at a conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

"The first reason is that too much of the risk taken in the financial sector ultimately resides with taxpayers," he said. "The rescue of significant parts of the global financial system from near-certain collapse by public authorities came at very substantial risk and costs to taxpayers."

Hildebrand also noted the "intangible costs" of a crisis, including damage to confidence in the both financial sector and market participants.

"The third reason is that this financial crisis will not be the last one," he warned.

"We have to address the vulnerabilities that were at the root of this crisis and are likely to be at the root of those in the future," the central banker said. "For this purpose, we need simple, effective measures that can be implemented rapidly once the crisis is over."