By locating the duties related to the execution of monetary policy at the New York Fed, the System gains a number of benefits. These include the New York Fed’s ability to develop expertise in and understanding of the broad spectrum of financial markets and institutions, and its access to a deep pool of specialized financial talent in the place where it is most concentrated. The New York Fed’s institutional knowledge and experience in financial markets and its related disciplines are a critical input at all times, but never more so than during periods of duress. This was evidenced during the financial crisis, when the New York Fed’s unique insights and expertise helped the Federal Reserve respond quickly and effectively to unfolding events. The authors who crafted the Federal Reserve Act such as Carter Glass – assisted by H. Parker Willis – deliberately created a central bank structure that fits the U.S. political system, with a series of important checks and balances – between Washington and the rest of the country, between Washington and New York, and with respect to the role of the federal government versus the private sector. These checks and balances exist to ensure that the central bank acts in the broadest interests of the nation, and is appropriately insulated from short-term political pressures and considerations. In this construction, New York does have a special role, but one that stems from where it sits, in New York City, the nation’s most important financial center.

These activities have taken many forms ranging from equity and non-equity business collaboration, regulatory cooperation in setting the global development blueprint, information exchange and building consensus on issues for international prudential standards development, to intergovernmental memorandums of understanding for collaborative developmental initiatives in Islamic finance, and many others. BIS Review 30/2007  1  Ladies and Gentlemen, As Islamic finance continues to make significant inroads in the international financial markets with expanding scale, growing magnitude and greater sophistication, a critical need emerges for an expanded discourse on the developments and emerging issues with its global relevance and impact, of interest to all its major stakeholders. This is the first time that Bank Negara Malaysia has organized a full-scale, multi-disciplinary, international event of this nature on Islamic finance. These sessions include the annual Investors & Issuers Forum, and Financial Regulators Forum and the biannual Banking and Financial Law School. It is our hope that participants will benefit from any of the parallel sessions of their interests and have increased opportunities for network building among the widening groups of stakeholders participation in the Forum. These forums have been designed to provide dynamic and interactive formats to encouraging open and inclusive dialogues that foster a greater collective understanding in Islamic finance. Let me record our appreciation to the many distinguished speakers from various international institutions, financial practitioners, legal fraternity, regulatory bodies and other prominent thought leaders in Islamic finance.