glenn stevens : remarks to parliamentary joint committee on the australian commission for law enforcement integrity remarks by mr glenn stevens, governor of the reserve bank of australia, to the parliamentary joint committee on the australian commission for law enforcement integrity, canberra, 30 november 2012. * * * madam chair members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to attend today and for the opportunity to make a few introductory remarks. the committee posed a number of questions to the reserve bank, some in relation to the lessons from the corruption allegations against note printing australia ( npa ) and securency, and the majority in relation to the bank ’ s offshore operations. the bank responded to these questions in late may. in regard to the corruption allegations, the companies have extended their full cooperation to the legal authorities. they have also done a great deal of work to reform policies and compliance over the past several years. of course, these matters remain before the courts. a key learning point for the reserve bank from these events is the extent of possible risks that can come from operating commercial ventures which export to a range of foreign jurisdictions. this has caused the reserve bank to re - evaluate its risk appetite insofar as such entities are concerned. as for the offshore operations of the reserve bank itself, there are three of them : in london, new york and, recently, beijing. of those three, the operations in london and new york are the largest and carry the greatest risks for the bank. those risks are overwhelmingly of a financial and operational nature, since a major part of those offices ’ function is to manage the bulk of the bank ’ s foreign currency assets. the key people in those offices are australian staff well trained in the bank ’ s policies and controls for such activities. the beijing office is, at this stage, small, purely representational, and is operated out of the australian embassy there, with the various protocols and controls associated with that. the staff there, who are bound by the bank ’ s code of conduct, also received appropriate training from the department of foreign affairs and trade. the bank ’ s control environment for the london and new york offices has been configured appropriately for the risks these offices take, with detailed policies, procedures and controls. as a general observation, given the nature of the operations and the jurisdictions in which they are operating, the risks of corruption in the london and new york offices are considered generally to be inherently no more, and no less, than associated with like activities in head office. that said, risks

things, money gram money transfer, which is one of the fastest means of transferring money into and out of sierra leone, and has also introduced mobile banking services. this last development has given its customers the opportunity to access and initiate transactions on their accounts from anywhere and at any time of the day. in the bank ’ s drive for excellence and customer satisfaction, the bank of sierra leone has continued and will continue to create the enabling environment for safe and sound banking. for instance, in collaboration with other stakeholders, the bank of sierra leone is putting in place measures to implement all provisions of the anti - money laundering act so as to prevent money launderers using our financial system for their criminal activities. a recently concluded workshop organised by unodc / giaba / / bank of sierra leone succeeded in drafting a national anti - money laundering strategy with the aim of providing a framework for an anti - money laundering regime that will ensure effective crime prevention and detection, and at the same time avoid creating excessive burden on the financial system and its users. the workshop attracted various stakeholders, including the association of commercial bankers in sierra leone to which gtb is an active member. the bank of sierra leone shall continue to maintain the open door policy and encourage dialogue in the process of ensuring a sound and stable financial system. mr chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, allow me to close this brief remarks by once again congratulating the board, management and staff of the guaranty trust bank ( sl ) limited for another step taken to enhance the public image of the bank. i thank you for your attention.