and more recently latin america are demonstrating, the economic challenges of the day require more and even deeper regional cooperation. for us here in the caribbean, regional cooperation may not merely be a desirable policy option, it may be vital for our very survival. the theme of this year ’ s conference – financial stability, crisis preparedness and risk management in the caribbean – is both appropriate and timely. just when we thought we had survived the worst of the international financial crisis, we were blindsided by the collapse of the stanford bank and the demise of cl financial, the largest conglomerate in the caribbean. the later crisis has involved not only trinidad and tobago ( with clico, british american and the clico investment bank ), but it has also touched barbados, guyana and suriname ( that have clico subsidiaries ) as well as the oecs and the bahamas, where the baico insurance companies operated. while the impact is still unfolding, there is no doubt that, when the numbers are in, the crisis of cl financial would have had an enormous human and fiscal cost. if there is any positive, it is that the crisis should finally constitute a long awaited wake - up call ; one that we cannot ignore and one that carries powerful lessons that we need to address immediately. in passing, i would like to identify three main lessons : the first is the urgent need for all regional jurisdictions to strengthen national financial legislation and regulatory practices ; the second imperative is the establishment of a framework to facilitate closer collaboration among regional regulators in the regulation of cross - border institutions ; and the third imperative is the establishment of a national crisis management plan which details how regulatory authorities would react in the event of a systemic financial crisis. an examination of the conference agenda indicates that these issues will be fully covered in the next three days. one couldn ’ t help but notice also the impressive list of presenters and participants. this should provide for stimulating discussion such that, at the end of this conference we should be able to benefit from new insights for assuring regional financial stability. it is indeed fitting that this year ’ s conference will honor the work of a great caribbean economist and intellectual – professor c. y. thomas. let me congratulate c. y. for his sterling contribution to the region, in a career spanning more than four decades. your early work in the area of monetary and financial economics has helped shape the minds of generations of students and policy - makers in the caribbean and in other parts of the world. i do look forward to

performing loans for the banking system, as a whole, are in the region of 2 percent, having come down markedly from double - digit levels that prevailed during the nineties ; ( iii ) provisions are at a reassuringly high level, with the coverage ratio relative to nonperforming loans, exceeding 61 percent ; and ( iv ) banks are recording strong profits with the average return on assets in the vicinity of 3. 5 percent. the intercommercial bank has been very much a part of this extraordinary period of development of the financial sector, having been born out of the process of financial liberalization, which dominated the mid - 1990s. from its inception, ibl was a unique institution. while the initial capital may have been foreign, it was essentially a local bank with local management, emerging not too long after three local commercial banks had got into difficulties and needed to be liquidated. as such, the creation of the ibl was a strong affirmation on the part of its founders, of their confidence in the economy and in the financial sector of trinidad and tobago. from the outset, ibl had to face severe challenges – it was a small bank, in competition with much larger and long established banks. it did not enjoy the economies of scale that go with size but moreover, it was a regional bank, in central trinidad, without the national reach of the larger banks. against this background, the fact that ibl has survived and has prospered, is a credit to its founders, to its board and to the management and staff of the bank, who had to substitute, efficiency and service quality for financial strength. with commendable insight the management of ibl, early in the game, staked out a strategic market niche focusing on core banking, geared to meeting the personal and business needs of a small but thriving geographical area. ibl is unique in another sense – it has turned the conventional caricom order on its head. over the last few years there has been a proliferation of crossborder ownership in the caricom region. however, invariably, this has meant trinidad and tobago banks expanding their wings abroad. the acquisition of ibl by the jamaica money market brokers reflected a reversal of this dominant order. today, with its stake in ibl and cmmb, among others, jmmb has become an important player in the regional financial markets. the re - launch of the intercommercial bank trust and merchant bank limited is an af