, compared with fewer than 2, 000 reports in 1997. and in the first six months of 2005 alone, there were more than 11, 000 reports of suspected mortgage fraud. the increase may be attributable in part to an increase in the number of originators required to file suspicious activity reports ( sars ). notably, the more widespread use of nontraditional loan products may present greater opportunity for fraud, as these products sometimes lack some of the quality checks typical of more - traditional mortgages. in general, we consider mortgage fraud to be a serious issue and one that bankers and supervisors must continue to confront. of course, supervisors want to hear the industry's perspective on fraud in mortgage lending. commercial real estate the u. s. banking agencies recently issued proposed guidance on commercial real estate ( cre ) lending. a major portion of that guidance focuses on cre concentrations. before i discuss the importance of managing cre concentrations, i want to emphasize that the proposed cre guidance relates to " true " cre loans. it is not directed at commercial loans for which a bank looks to a business's cash flow as the source of repayment and accepts real estate collateral as a secondary source of repayment. the proposed guidance addresses bank loans for commercial real estate projects for which repayment depends on third - party rental income or on the sale, refinancing, or permanent financing of the property. the latter are " true " commercial real estate loans, in that repayment depends on the condition and performance of the real estate market. i also want to mention up front that the proposed guidance is not intended to cap or restrict banks'participation in the cre sector but rather to remind institutions that proper risk management and appropriate capital are essential elements of a sound cre lending strategy. in fact, many institutions already have both of these elements in place and may not need to adjust their practices very much. i believe we are all aware of the central role that cre lending played in the banking problems of the late 1980s and early 1990s. one reason supervisors are proposing cre guidance at this point is that we are seeing high and rising concentrations of cre loans relative to capital. for certain groups of banks, such as those with assets of between $ 100 million and $ 1 billion, the average cre concentration level is about 300 percent of total capital. in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the concentration level for this same bank group was about 150 percent, or half the

tarisa watanagase : creating sustainable financial inclusion welcome remarks by dr tarisa watanagase, governor of the bank of thailand, at 1st afi start - up committee meeting, bangkok, 10 july 2009. * * * deputy governor, director - general, dr. hannig, colleagues, it is a pleasure to welcome all of you to bangkok, which for some of you, i know is a long way from home. thank you for making such an effort to be here. i cannot tell you enough how much your presence and participation in this meeting is appreciated. though we have work to do this morning, i hope that you will also have a chance to enjoy your stay in bangkok, including our sight - seeing tour this afternoon. at the afi public announcement back in april where president babatz and i had a chance to address the meeting as members of our start - up committee, i was delighted to see the kind of positive response and enthusiasm shown by policy makers from a broad spectrum of countries. many of whom, i learned, have decided to jump on board with us, making afi membership grow to more than fifty countries, worldwide. this only confirms that among many agenda laid on the table in international policy forums today, financial inclusion is the one agenda that we can all agree and give our full support to. as i said in that meeting, there are challenges ahead that, together, we must address in a cooperative manner, namely creating sustainable financial inclusion and ensuring the linkage between greater financial access and improvement in wellbeing. please allow me to offer my initial thoughts on the subject. with wellbeing as the ultimate goal of policy makers, many policy building blocks need to be woven together. examples include policies on career development, education, macroeconomic stability and so on. while these policies do not necessarily fall under the mandates of financial regulators, efforts should be made to ensure that policy directions of all relevant institutions, government and private, are aligned. closer to our hearts though, are policies that aim to improve the poor ’ s capacity to be financially included. in this regard, i believe that there must be at least three key policy ingredients, namely financial access, financial literacy and consumer protection. first, for access, there is a need to ensure that the range of basic financial services provided can address financial needs of the poor in all important aspects of their lives. for instance, we need to consider an “ inclusive package ” of credits, savings, transfers, and insurance that