, hfc has faced some difficult years, but i am pleased to say that bis central bankers ’ speeches they have persevered and pulled through well. hfc today has a well entrenched market presence and, i am happy to say, complies with all reserve bank requirements. currently, hfc boasts an asset base of a little over $ 247 million ; a lending book in excess of $ 196 million and deposits totalling approximately $ 157 million. these figures have grown threefold in the past decade. apart from its headoffice, there are four branches : in suva ; namaka ; labasa ; and this one in lautoka. an agency was recently opened in ba and i understand a fifth branch will be added soon in nakasi. the number of employees has grown to 82 officers managing a total of over 1, 300 deposit accounts and approximately 2, 500 loan accounts. hfc ’ s products have expanded and now include term deposits, home loans, personal loans, and asset finance loans, investment and commercial loans. however, i reiterate that as challenges occur and are addressed, new ones inevitably arise. with increased growth comes increased risks and responsibilities. hfc has experienced strong growth and, in line with its vision to serve the people with innovative financial products, recently branched out concertedly into commercial lending. this alters the institution ’ s risk profile and necessitates deviations from the norm. in this regard, we have seen hfc strengthen its corporate governance and risk management framework significantly over the past few years. the reserve bank will continue to work closely with hfc, as we do with all licensed financial institutions, to ensure inherent risks are adequately mitigated with the required buffers and oversight systems and processes. earlier this month, i had the opportunity to meet with the senior management of hfc with regard to its business performance, views on the general business environment, products and services and the overall strategic intent of the company. let me just say that there are bold commitments in the offing. the relocation and refurbishment of this branch underlines hfc ’ s commitment and dedication to its strategic goals and meeting the needs of its customers both current and potential. hfc is proud of its local management and local ownership. i am sure you will all agree with me that they back this up with being an exemplary corporate citizen. we often open the daily newspapers to read about hfc being involved in some community project : - flood supplies distribution ;

amando m tetangco, jr : geared up for global reform and regional integration speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the ft - first metro philippines investment summit, makati, 20 may 2015. * * * i am pleased to have this opportunity to share my thoughts with you this afternoon. at last year ’ s summit, we tackled the “ new wave of volatilities ” that we were then experiencing. you may recall that the markets ( both global and our own ) were at that time still internalizing the “ reality ” of fed taper. in the interim, however, a more upbeat outlook on the us economy has surfaced as well as significantly lower oil prices. recently, improvements have also been noted in europe and japan. domestically, there have also been quite a number of positive developments. private consumption has remained buoyant, inflation has been kept within target, current account surpluses have been sustained and the banking system has stayed sound. against this backdrop, the imf, the world bank and the adb have all projected strong gdp growth for 2015 and 2016 for the philippines. moody ’ s backed these up by describing our banks as being “ well positioned to manage unexpected downward pressures ”. while we await an update from s & p after its recent due diligence, fitch has highlighted the “ sound liquidity, high capital buffers and stable asset quality ” of our banks. all things considered, the philippine financial system is in a good place today. but we can ’ t afford to be complacent. not at all. for this afternoon, let ’ s consider two things that are top - of - mind of the market that could change the situation : 1 ) the global reform agenda, and 2 ) regional financial integration. first, the global reform agenda. we have seen the reform agenda take shape – from banking to securities, insurance, infrastructure, governance and market conduct. all these reforms are meant to institutionalize a “ new normal ” under a revised set of global best practices and minimum standards. we all appreciate how different this new normal is against the “ older ” ways of doing thing. i fully understand that making this transition is a challenge for stakeholders, regulators and the regulated alike. the principles underlying the various reform components, however, make a clear case for why there is a need for change. as