rather it is a free informal alternative to going to court. over the next several months the ombudsman ’ s office will intensify its education and outreach programs through direct contact with the public and through its new website. i would like to invite the financial sector to join us in educating the public on financial matters. let me once again thank you for joining us at this ground breaking event. i have full confidence that all parties present here today will ensure the success of the operations of the office of the financial servicesombudsman which will redound to the benefit of our society as a whole.

to be the natural home for the regional stock exchange. and as the sec will explain in greater detail, there are proposals for increasing the range of offerings, through the introduction of depository receipts. • yesterday, a few speakers suggested leveraging our high reserve levels and the hsf to lure external fund managers to the ifc. if i am asked, i would urge great caution in making that link. in my view, you select fund managers for their ability to deliver target returns given the country ’ s risk tolerance. a fund manager ’ s preparedness to have an office in trinidad and tobago should not be given too great a weight in the selection decision. if the herd instinct works at all, the success in consolidating trinidad and tobago ’ s position as the regional financial center could pave the way for extra - regional institutions to acknowledge trinidad and tobago as the gateway to the caribbean, and perhaps to latin america where the possibilities are even greater. data from the imf ’ s portfolio investment survey show that portfolio investment into latin america from the us, amounted to about us $ 258 billion in 2006. credit from us banks to latin america amounted to us $ 68 billion. is there a role for ttifc intermediating some small part of these sizable cross - border flows? i think the challenge is, will we be able to make it attractive for recognized investment houses to make ttifc a base for these transactions rather than colombia or chile or brazil or argentina as is currently the case. to make such inroads we will need, inter alia, to improve transportation links and it connectivity between tt and latin america. what about the central bank ’ s role in all this? as the minister of finance noted yesterday, the bank has already taken important steps to upgrade our supporting financial infrastructure, in line with the requirements of an ifc. our infrastructural framework now comprises electronic clearance and settlement systems, a regional credit rating agency and an online auction system and integrated securities depositories. i should note that we also have a good base in terms of the availability and quality of supporting services such as law firms with experience in financial law, and accountancy and auditing practices. we are now upgrading our financial sector legislation and bringing our regulatory regime in line with international best practices. we have completed drafts of new legislation to combat money - laundering and the financing of terrorist activities as well as new flagship legislation governing banks and non - banks – the financial institutions act ( fia