original basel accord has seen most g - 20 countries starting to implement the basel 3 capital rules, which has delivered what many consider to be the world ’ s first global liquidity standard for banks. the jury is still out on basel 3. as many of you know ( or at least i hope you know ), the basel committee does not have the right to impose the standards it produces on others, and has never, at least explicitly, sought to constrain national authorities to do so. nevertheless, more than 100 countries are implementing the three versions of the basel accord in different forms at varying speeds. here in the caribbean, most jurisdictions are still seeking to fully comply with basel 1 before moving to basel 2, while others are focusing on first satisfying pillar 2 of the basel 2 framework. the region, as whole, decided to put the adoption of basel 2 on hold following criticisms of the approach in the wake of the eruption of the international financial crisis in mid - 2007. five years later, one might even perhaps question why the region is not focusing on basel 3 at this time. bis central bankers ’ speeches so why has the caribbean region been grappling with implementation of the basel accord? perhaps the answer, in my respectful view, is that the basel framework was never really designed with developing countries in mind, and implementation of any version in developing countries is likely to be fraught with difficulties. there are a number of factors which determine the speed of basel accord implementation plans in different countries of the world. these include the size, structure and degree of financial sector development, the level of economic development, and the capacity of the existing regulatory and supervisory authorities. application of these factors to the caribbean reveals the following : first, the small island states in the caribbean experience greater macroeconomic volatility, greater volatility of external flows and greater vulnerability to external shocks than the industrial countries. secondly, the newer versions of the basel framework rely on strong institutions. in the caribbean, institutions limiting rent - seeking are weak : banker and bureaucrat have more opportunity and incentive to reap private benefits at public cost. basel 3, for example, presumes that sophisticated and integrated risk management systems are in place, and for the caribbean this is generally not the case. thirdly, skills are scarce in the caribbean. supervision and market discipline require skilled supervisors and market participants. i, therefore, believe it is timely for the regional working committee on basel 2 implementation to start thinking about developing a regional prude

is a win - win proposition that will benefit individual citizens as well as the economy and country as a whole. the main beneficiaries of any financial literacy programme would be the citizens who stand to gain better control of their financial circumstances, and this can mean more financial independence and enhanced well - being. but there are economy - wide spill - offs. for instance : • employees who are not pre - occupied with pressing day - to - day financial problems are more likely to operate at higher levels of productivity which certainly benefit their employers ; • better informed consumers of financial services could foster competition among financial firms, contributing to improvements in service quality and cost ; • there is no doubt that improved financial literacy bestows significant benefits to the financial sector as it facilitates more informed choices by customers. when customers understand what they are buying there is less room for complaints about being misled, and this is good for the credibility of the financial sector. the files of the financial services ombudsman are full of complaints from customers who clearly did not understand the insurance or banking product they had chosen. financial education is all the more important now when, technology and the quest for efficiency have diminished banker - customer interaction. research conducted in several oecd countries provide evidence, for example, that : • workers increase their participation in retirement savings schemes when employers provide tangible support to financial education programmes ; • mortgage counseling has been found to be very effective in reducing the risk of mortgage delinquency ; • young adults who make personal budgets and plan ahead tend to manage personal debt better. the central bank is hoping to partner with the several institutions represented here today. the partnership could involve financial, organizational and human resource ( volunteer ) assistance. we would like to suggest a few possible options : • some non - financial corporations sponsor educational programmes in certain schools. such firms could partner with the bank to include financial literacy in the curriculum and could cofinance with us the extension of the programme to a larger number of schools. • corporations that are interested in youth development have the opportunity of sponsoring financial literacy programmes for groups that they would wish to assist. • we invite tertiary institutions, such as costaat, cipriani college, uwi and utt to partner with us in the delivery of financial education to their young and not - so - young students. we extend a similar invitation to the relevant authorities to include financial literacy as part of the various government - sponsored training programmes. • we would welcome a partnership with those lending institutions that