delisle worrell : risk and efficiency opening remarks by dr delisle worrell, governor of the central bank of barbados, at the regional central banks information systems specialists ( rcbiss ) annual ( xxiii ) conference, bridgetown, 3 june 2013. * * * today i want to celebrate with you an outstanding success story of caribbean regional integration. for over two decades information specialists from central banks from across the region have met like this, to network among yourselves, share common experiences and take advantage of each others ’ expertise. similar networks now exist in almost every sphere of central banking activity in the region, to such a pervasive extent that we now take them for granted. we should commend ourselves on this achievement, and seek to use our networks ever more effectively, in attaining the objectives of our central banks. that is what this conference is about. how do we use the opportunities which new technologies offer us to deliver central banking services as efficiently as possible, without exposing the banking system to unacceptable levels of risk. we need to pay attention to all the elements in this statement. we should always bear in mind that the ultimate goal is to make our central banks more efficient in providing the services which are our responsibility. meetings like this one are an opportunity to ask ourselves how well we are performing in this regard. are our technologies being used to provide faster and more efficient banking services for the government, the commercial banks and other financial institutions that we hold accounts for? are our transactions in government securities, foreign currencies and securities, and other financial transactions increasing in efficiency as we improve our technologies. are we able to bring information more effectively to bear in the formulation of economic policy? and are we communicating more clearly and persuasively to the general public, with cogent analysis that is fully backed up with relevant data? is our oversight of the financial system keeping up with the world ’ s best regulatory guidance? the answers to these questions will tell us how effective our information technology strategies have been, and how we might need to adjust our strategies in pursuit of further gains. the second part of my statement above refers to maintaining risks at an acceptable level. the management of risk is a very complex matter, and i can make only a few observations about it in this morning ’ s address. first we have to determine what is an acceptable level of risk. that depends on the cost of the risky event, at every level of risk, and the availability of insurance against that

south east asian capital markets were highly liberalized – in fact that is why money was able to move out so quickly in 1997. yet everything points to the fact that financial liberalization assists in capital market development, particularly if they have global objectives. the second presentation after lunch deals with open market operations, drawing on the experiences of another regional central bank and should provide some useful lessons for us. we have observed the provision of liquidity by central banks in the major capitals recently as the credit crunch unfolded there. in the caribbean, the pressure is often in the other direction – to mop up liquidity. the cost can be tremendous. that discussion should be quite instructive. the panelists in the final session will focus on issues and challenges emanating from the regional capital markets. this should be an exciting session bringing together as it does a regulator, banker and an academic. somewhere in the course of our discourse we may hear some views on the attempted amalgamation here in barbados and the attempts to bid up the shares to levels way beyond expectations and as it turns out, beyond what the market can bear. it is instructive to determine whether the small size of our markets and the imperfections in the market lead to these types of developments which make our markets susceptible. ladies and gentlemen, you have to believe me when i tell you that this session was conceptualized before the current happenings which are now affecting three well - known conglomerates in barbados and trinidad and tobago and before the subprime problem erupted in the us, but not before barbados had committed to financial liberalization with respect to caricom with a hope of accelerating the development of our capital markets, so the timing has turned out to be a bonus in terms of interest in capital markets. we look forward to the presentations and we particularly thank those who have gone to much effort to be here. i thank you.