rapid technological advancement while keeping abreast with the latest innovations. new devices, software, applications and inventions will continue to emerge. the challenge for us is to keep pace and ensure that industry players understand the potential benefits as well as the risk they bear. as the financial industry evolves into digital, it is inevitable that the industry becomes vulnerable to various new threats and risk factors, especially in the domain of financial crimes and terrorism financing. it is inevitable therefore that we pool together to be able to meet the challenges posed by those new technological advancements. the bank of mauritius will continue to strengthen the aml / cft regime to maintain relevance and effectiveness for the banking sector. the requirement now emphasises on measures that commensurate with risks, an effective risk based approach ( rba ) to aml / cft. the application of rba should have meaningful application. misinformed rba could lead to unjust financial exclusion and unnecessary financial costs to institutions. beyond implementing robust risk management frameworks and systems the industry ’ s resilience should be strengthened by developing stronger risk cultures and mind - sets. having a sound risk culture will help institutions to be vigilant to financial crimes, take a questioning approach to unusual client requests or transactions, and involve the entire organisation. institutions ’ board and senior management must play a pivotal role in keeping the organisation on the right and ethical path. they must set a strong tone from the top that profits do not come at the expense of unethical behaviour or misconduct. this must also be translated into real actions throughout organisations, and not just remain as talk from the top. strengthening risk culture, governance and controls will go a long way towards fortifying our defences, but there is more we can do. we can work together and work smarter. finally, i would be remiss if i did not mention that it is up to all of us to prevent financial crimes. institutional partnerships or new analytical tools would count for little without the trained, dedicated professionals to make effective use of them and exercise sound judgements. in this respect, this workshop is timely and commendable. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches conclusion let me conclude by saying that by working together, we can collectively be more effective at combating financial crimes. upholding high standards of integrity in the financial industry is an absolute priority. our reputation as a clean and trusted financial centre depends on our ability to protect it from abuse, and we depend on each other to make

disclosures on metrics and targets due to the lack of reliable ghg emissions data from their clients'portfolio. as a result, the bank issued revised disclosure requirements on 08 december 2023 such that financial institutions would not be required to compulsorily disclose information on their climate - related metrics and targets for the time being. the bank and the ministry of environment, solid waste management and climate change have collaborated on the development of a comprehensive database comprising historical and projected data points for a set of pre - identified climate - related risk drivers. this database has been made available to financial institutions since july 2023. collaborative efforts under the ambit of a goal congruence initiative are currently ongoing between the bank of mauritius, the ministry of environment, solid waste 5 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches management and climate change, the university of mauritius as well as the private sector to address numerous aspects including the lack of granular climate data for use in stress testing and scenario analysis. in addition to data and disclosures, the development of a national green taxonomy is key to promote investor confidence and catalyse climate investment in mauritius and in the african region, while addressing greenwashing concerns. a green taxonomy is a classification system for identifying activities or investments that will move a country toward meeting specific targets related to priority environmental objectives. the bank is actively following up on the matter. ladies and gentlemen we are sailing in unchartered waters but do have the advantage of knowing the destination ( global temperature rise must be limited to a maximum of 1. 5 degrees above pre - industrial level ). but getting to our destination is what matters and we need to ensure that we successfully navigate our ship firmly against all vagaries of the ocean and vicissitudes of thunderstorms. we have a sisyphean responsibility towards the future generations who will judge us by the quality of legacy we shall bequeath to them. our actions will impact generations to come and may be irreversible. in this labyrinth of shocks - actions - reactions that is eerily reminiscent of a snakes - and - ladders game of grand scale, we have the moral compass of convincing our future generations that we did everything we could since timing is of essence. we need to act now and to do so smartly! i shall ostensibly never fail to end my remarks on climate change issues with this hope - carrying message. we, therefore, need to join forces collectively to tackle the looming climate crisis before it