capable banks and financial institutions. on the other hand, the smaller banks would do well to harness their core expertise in order to better serve their respective market niches. the highly global and complex banking scenario leaves no room for complacency for all banking industry players. to survive, thrift banks must enhance their financial strength, conform to sound corporate governance practices and boost their competitive advantage by honing excellence in specific target markets. concluding remarks i would like to end my keynote speech by calling on all member institutions of the chamber to remain supportive of our policies and reform initiatives. the reform agenda that i have outlined to you today is a work in progress. in the past, you have taken a proactive role in the pursuit of genuine reforms in the thrift banking system. now is the time to reaffirm that commitment. there is a lot of work ahead of us, but with vision to guide us and with steadfast action, we can be assured of success in achieving our shared goal of building a stronger, more competitive banking system. thank you very much and more power to all of you!

effective and efficient enforcement. in pursuit of this objective, we have recently issued major regulations covering : • the new financial reporting package ( frp ) ; • the guidelines on supervision by risk ; • the guidelines on information technology ( it ) risk management ; and • the amendments to the fit and proper rule • the prompt corrective action framework. the new frp effectively amends the manual of accounts ( moa ) and revises the reportorial requirements for banks, in accordance with the provisions of the new philippine financial reporting standards ( pfrs ) / philippine accounting standards ( pas ). to the extent possible, we have also integrated into the new frp the requirements of the basel 2 capital adequacy framework. the new frp will greatly promote an enhanced level of financial transparency and also facilitate an enhanced off - site surveillance of banks and other financial institutions under our jurisdiction. banks are constantly exposed to various risks because of the increasingly complex financial setting. rather than constrain product innovation and operational flexibility, we would rather espouse the adoption of appropriate internal risk management mechanisms to ensure that banks and other financial institutions continue to operate in a safe and sound manner. it is for this purpose that we have set out the guidelines on supervision by risks under circular no. 510. mainly, these guidelines specify bsp ’ s expectations on how banks and other financial institutions should manage their risks. these are also designed to provide guidance on how the risk - focused supervision will be applied to these risks. meanwhile, the guidelines on i. t. risk management are intended to communicate to the banking industry bsp ’ s expectations on how technology - related risks should be viewed in the context of bank risk management. we all know how pervasive information technology has become in our banking business. these guidelines will aid in effectively identifying, measuring, monitoring and controlling banks ’ technology risk exposure. building on previous initiatives to raise corporate governance standards, we recently came out with a stricter “ fit and proper rule ” encompassing all directors and senior officers of banks. this is to ensure that officials tasked to manage banks and other financial institutions possess the integrity and competence required for the job. very recently, the monetary board approved the prompt corrective action ( or pca ) framework. this basically communicates to the industry how the bsp will deal with potential problems in bank operations at a very early stage hopefully to forestall more serious problems from arising that would necessitate more drastic and painful measures. the key triggers