benjamin e diokno : riding out the covid - 19 crisis - reform imperatives for recovery and resilience remarks by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the knowledge series on “ recovery resilience : rethinking growth post covid - 19 ”, 22 may 2020. * * * good day, everyone. thank you for inviting me to share bsp ’ s views on growth and recovery after the covid - 19 crisis. we are now two months into the quarantine. and i must say that i am amazed at the breadth and speed of the virtual policy coordination and multi - sectoral consultation process that are taking place as we fight the pandemic. even as the covid - 19 uncertainty continues, i am cautiously optimistic that we can overcome this crisis. let me now proceed by first providing a snapshot of the terrain after the outbreak of covid - 19. the domestic financial markets were racked by heightened volatility following the outbreak of the covid - 19 pandemic. we saw sharp decline in portfolio inflows in the first two months of 2020. the stock market index recorded on march 19 its lowest year - to - date record since 11 october 2011. we have had serious exogenous shocks in the first quarter – the taal volcano eruption, us - china trade tensions, african swine fever. but nothing comes close to the covid - 19 pandemic that has brought the global economy at a standstill. the confluence of these shocks resulted in the dismal contraction of the economy by 0. 2 % in the first quarter o 2020. this is the first negative real gdp growth since 1998 when the economy wrestled with el nino and the asian financial crisis. in its latest assessment, the development budget coordination committee forecasts a full - year contraction of – 2. 0 to – 3. 4 percent ( neda, 13 may 2020 ). on a positive note, the peso appears to buck the trend as most regional currencies have depreciated significantly against the us dollar. the peso is the least depreciated currency among its peers. we have hefty gross international reserves estimated at us $ 89 billion. we forecast that the year - end gir will reach us $ 93 billion. despite the gloom, there is reason for optimism on the prospects of the philippine

matthew elderfield : the regulatory agenda for the funds industry address by mr matthew elderfield, deputy governor of the central bank of ireland, to the irish funds industry association, dublin, 12 september 2012. * * * thank you very much, ifia, for the invitation to speak at this year ’ s conference. ifia plays an important role in the irish international financial services sector and it is my pleasure to be here today to share some thoughts about the regulatory agenda for the funds industry. before i do that, can i take a moment to acknowledge the significant contribution that has been made by gary palmer, as the outgoing ceo of ifia, to the growth and success of the funds industry in this country and to thank him publicly for the good working relationship he developed with the central bank. let me also welcome gary ’ s successor and say that i look forward to maintaining a good dialogue with pat lardner : indeed, that has already begun. ifia is an important representative body because the funds industry is an important sector for ireland. you are all well versed on the key statistics that illustrate this, in terms of assets under management ( €1. 2 trillion ) or number of employees in the sector ( some 12, 000 or so ). one statistic that is not so readily accessible – and required a bit of digging around – is the number of investors in irish regulated funds or funds supported by irish fund administrators. there are in fact over 1. 3 million such investors – a very significant number indeed. that shows the importance of the irish market place in providing a service to investors across europe and the world. and, indeed, it shows the important responsibility that we both have – as industry and regulator – in ensuring high standards of investor protection. these investors place trust in the irish system of regulation and our reputation for maintaining high standards is vital to the success of the international financial services sector including the funds industry. the key message i have for you today is that getting the regulatory framework right for investor protection is important for the reputation of the ifsc and the success of the funds industry. i want to explain that we have an opportunity to revisit and improve that framework in europe and domestically, with respect to our regulatory processes, and by enhancing our approach to supervision. the starting point for approaching regulation of the fund sector should be an acceptance that funds are different. the traditional concerns of the prudential supervisor do not apply to the funds industry. nor do the traditional consumer protection issues