only draws from lessons learnt from the crisis, but also aims at addressing corporate governance weaknesses identified in financial institutions during on - site examinations conducted by the bank of mauritius and which have not been remedied in line with the recommendations of the bank of mauritius. while the 2001 guideline recommended for a rotation of directors, it was noted that this recommendation has not been implemented to the satisfaction of the bank of mauritius. it was found that some boards remained “ pale, male and stale ” as governor bheenick remarked during the first workshop. to remedy that, we had no other alternative than to limit the term of office of non - executive directors of local banks to 6 years with a cooling - off period of two years before a possible re - appointment. this would allow for more fresh blood in the boardroom with new ideas, new mindset and, why not, bolder initiatives. renewal of board members allows new thinking on the board. nevertheless, we are alive of the need to maintain continuity at the board level and banks have been granted a transitional period to comply with that provision. in addition, on the issue of directorship, it needs to be highlighted that while the bank of mauritius is mandated under the banking act 2004 to allow a director to sit on the board of more than one financial institution, we have taken the view that there is a potential risk of conflict of interest, if we were to allow this. we also believe that all directors should allocate sufficient time to perform their board responsibilities effectively. the chairperson of the board must be an independent director under the guideline. this requirement is based on the principle that effective board debate and discussion require independent board leadership. a strong presence of independent directors implies independent judgment, free of any external influence. the board is further encouraged to appoint a lead independent director. the lead independent director has a potentially major role to play within the board, if there is a potential or actual tension between the chairman and ceo or, alternatively, where the closeness of the chairman and the ceo might inhibit the ability of nonexecutive / independent directors to challenge and to contribute effectively to the works of the board. as regards the various sub - committees of the boards, the guideline makes it mandatory for financial institutions to have an audit committee, a conduct review committee for related party transactions and a risk management committee. board sub - committees represent the arm of the board for those issues that require special competencies. the sub - committees should report regularly and formally to the

the participants as well as the judging panel for their hard work in making the competition such a success. let me finish by emphasising that the science is already very clear that carbon reduction has to happen much faster. to do so, technology is indispensable, and all of us here today have a role to play to bring about that change. i do hope that you will make the most of today's event to connect, exchange ideas, share knowledge and most importantly, begin to act. on this, perhaps we can borrow a line from the late professor stephen hawking, one of the greatest scientists of our time. he said, " climate change is one of the great dangers we face, and it's one we can prevent if we act now. " 4 six years have passed since he made that statement, so time is of the essence for actions to begin in a more meaningful manner. as the theme of this conference suggests, let's work together to accelerate the net - zero transition through technology. thank you very much! 1 https : / / climate. copernicus. eu / 2023 - track - be - hottest - year - ever - whats - next 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches 2 https : / / press. un. org / en / 2023 / sgsm21730. doc. htm 3 https : / / www. unep. org / resources / emissions - gap - report - 2023 4 https : / / www. bbc. com / news / science - environment - 40461726 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches