The External Consultative Committee includes representatives from international payment and settlement mechanisms (such as S.W.I.F.T., Euroclear, Cedel, and VISA), from international financial market associations (such as the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the International Institute of Finance, and the Global 2000 Coordinating Group), from multilateral organizations (such as the IMF, OECD, and World Bank), from the financial rating agencies (such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s), and from a number of other international organizations (such as the International Telecommunications Union, Reuters, the International Federation of Accountants, and the International Chamber of Commerce). This diversity of perspectives led to an extremely valuable discussion with the Joint Year 2000 Council and stimulated work on several projects to be taken forward with input from both the public and private sectors, for example, the initiatives on Y2K testing and self-assessment that I will describe shortly. Further sessions with the External Consultative Committee are planned on a quarterly basis. It is important at the outset for me to be clear that the Joint Year 2000 Council is not intended to become a global Y2K regulatory authority, with sweeping powers to coordinate international action or to take responsibility for ensuring Y2K readiness in every financial market worldwide. Through our ability to serve as a clearinghouse for Y2K information, however, I believe that the Joint Year 2000 Council will play a positive role in three areas: (1) raising awareness, (2) improving preparedness, and (3) contingency planning.

FIDE Forum and ICILF – working together to increase their impact and influence It is against this backdrop of growing demand that FIDE Forum has stepped in to offer financial institutions a platform to connect with potential directors from both within and outside Malaysia. The Directors Register achieves this in two ways. Firstly, by identifying board-ready individuals who already have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience. And secondly, by initiating into the talent pool individuals who have the calibre to serve on financial institution boards, but require development in certain areas, such as those specific to the banking or insurance industry. By significantly widening the supply sources, this initiative is in many ways a game-changing initiative to strengthen the talent pipeline for financial institution boards. The Directors Register complements the education programmes that have already been introduced for financial institution directors under ICLIF. The FIDE programme has become a standard bearer for exceptional directors’ education with its deep dive into the nuts and bolts of practical governance, its link to supervisory expectations, and a delivery approach that effectively combines the use of exceptional faculty and the rich experience, knowledge and insights of the participants. To date, more than 600 directors from financial institutions, including directors from the regional offices of both foreign and domestic financial institutions, have attended the FIDE programme. This has had a visible impact that in bringing about important positive changes in how boards function and interact with senior management.