. when making a comparison with the measures of other central banks, people often forget that monetary policy measures, including unconventional ones, have to be adapted to the institutional conditions, economic specifics and financing structure which make up a currency area. measures which are appropriate in one currency area can be ineffective elsewhere. what seems like the first option in one place can be the very last resort elsewhere, without the actual aim of the measures having to differ much from one another. instead, we should ask : would such purchases have the desired effect on the rate of inflation? what “ quantities ” would need to be purchased to have an effect? how long would such effects last? the euro area is characterised by a bank - based financial system which makes it considerably different from more strongly market - based financial systems, particularly in the united kingdom and the united states. this explains our focus on refinancing operations, which have enabled the banking system to overcome liquidity bottlenecks, maintain credit relationships and enter new credit arrangements. our measures from june and september 2014 also serve to support the credit channel. in essence, it is about improving funding bis central bankers ’ speeches conditions for borrowers in the real economy. the same logic can also be applied to the selective purchase programmes for covered bonds and asset - backed securities. the eurosystem is currently faced with 18, soon to be 19, issuers of government securities. should we not take into account during a broad purchase programme of securities the fact that government securities in the euro area are not without credit risk? there are very few shared competencies in fiscal policy. as long as this is the case, the ecb ’ s purchase of government securities is inevitably linked to a serious incentive problem. after all, the required cost - benefit considerations should also take into account the fact that other central banks bought government securities in a different economic environment with considerably higher long - term interest rates. in the euro area, the long - term interest rates on spanish and italian government bonds, for example, are already lower than those from the united states or the united kingdom. it is therefore questionable whether we should “ depress ” interest rates for the securities class even further. moreover, the interest on national government bonds in the euro area doesn ’ t operate as a benchmark for all further refinancing operations, as is the case in the united kingdom or the united states for example. besides, the effect of intervening in capital markets in a bankbased financial system is weaker

macao has been procyclically issuing supervisory guidance on risk management, internal control with a view to maintaining the stability of our financial system. to align with international understanding and standards, guidelines on anti - money laundering ( aml ) and countering the financing of terrorism ( cft ) have been promulgated and seriously enforced. we have close cooperation with other regulatory authorities and international agencies in all these aspects. as a result, all our regulatory efforts are being kept up - to - date with the requirements of internationally accepted standards. for instance, the aml / cft guidelines have recently been revised by the monetary authority of macao. the move arises from the recommendations of the mutual evaluation raised by the asia / pacific group on money laundering ( apg ) and the offshore group of banking supervisors ( ogbs ). the opinions of practitioners and findings in the course of aml / cft inspections have also been taken into account. we emphasize on the enhancement of customer due diligence ( cdd ) measures to be undertaken by banks and insurance companies. particular attention is paid to offshore companies who are required to implement proper and stringent account opening and subsequent monitoring procedures. to this end, i am very pleased to see that this seminar has been organized to offer a very valuable opportunity for financial institutions of macao to acquire a more indepth knowledge of the institutional arrangements of international business companies and the practices and methodology required in exercising cdd measures on offshore companies. today, we are privileged to have mr. baker with us to share his versatile and professional experience. it is a timely arrangement that mr. baker is here today to impart to us insightful thoughts and valuable experience in this respect when the msar is striving to diversify its economic activities. i am very sure that participants will benefit much from our knowledgeable speaker whose input is certainly conducive to enhancing the reputation of our financial industry. thank you!