loi m bakani : corporate governance speech by mr loi m bakani, governor of the bank of papua new guinea, at the png institute of directors workshop, port moresby, 16 – 17 july 2012. * * * introduction welcoming remarks • directors and official of png institute of directors ( pngid ), • facilitator of the workshop, mendhurst associates, mr. john mendzela • participants of licenced financial institutions • ladies and gentlemen before i begin, i would like to thank png institute of directors ( pngid ) for hosting this workshop and for the opportunity to address the participants on a common interest which is to enhance corporate governance in our institutions. corporate governance i know you all have now appreciated that good governance is important in every organizations and that the lack of it results in poor management and performance of institutions. we all should know ( because its public information ) the bad experiences in the recent past as a result of bad governance. for example, the demise of our former government bank, png banking corporation ( pngbc ) and three of our superannuation funds namely, defence force retirement benefit fund and former public officers superannuation fund ( posf ) and national provident fund ( npf ) were involved in bad management or questionable investments that resulted in three separate commission of inquiries. the financial sector reforms that took place in 2000 resulted in amendments to the central banking act and the bank and financial institutions act. this was followed by the enactment of the superannuation and life insurance act. these reforms established the independence of the central bank and enabled effective and stringent regulations. with greater independence comes greater accountability and transparency on the part of the central bank and the governor. in addition to the monetary policy responsibilities, regulatory and supervisory powers of the bank were also enhanced. the central bank now has powers to issue rules, regulations, directives and prudential standards and to take timely interventions to ensure that bad governance and unacceptable management practices are deterred. the new standard on corporate governance was drafted as a result of various onsite prudential reviews conducted by the bank since the financial sector reform in 2000. in all its findings, the lack of good corporate governance was the key central theme. the bank emphasizes that the board is ultimately responsible for governance of financial institutions, for employing the right persons in management positions and ensuring that the business functions and their risks are managed in line with board expectations and in such a

christian noyer : the g20 ’ s current challenges – combining new regulations and economic growth introductory remarks by mr christian noyer, governor of the bank of france, at the paris europlace conference “ the g20 ’ s current challenges : combining new regulations and economic growth ”, paris, 5 – 6 july 2011. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to take part in this paris - europlace conference and i warmly thank the organizers for their kind invitation. i am very glad to introduce this roundtable dedicated to a major challenge, regulators and policy makers are facing at the current juncture, that is ensuring a smooth combination between new regulations and economic growth. the crisis has taught us that market economies may be intrinsically unstable. and the costs of this instability are considerable. whether we look at unemployment, or public debts, it will take many years to deal with the legacy of those few months where the global financial system was on the verge of collapse. long term consequences still need to be assessed, and, as you know, there are questions about whether the crisis has – or not – permanently affected the growth potential of advanced economies. therefore, curbing the tendency of our economies to alternate phases of booms and busts and reducing the procyclicality of our financial systems, are legitimate public policy priorities. indeed, with a strong impulse from the g20 and the french presidency, we have embarked into an ambitious financial reform agenda whose explicit objective is to prevent any recurrence of such intense episodes of financial turbulence and instability. on the other hand, growth cannot occur without efficient and developed financial systems to allocate savings, redistribute risks, and provide liquidity to the economy. there is ample evidence that financially repressed economies are penalized in terms of investment and economic growth. the challenge, therefore, is to find the right balance, as suggested by the title of our session. looking at our achievements to date, my sense is that we are definitely moving in the right direction. but, of course, this is still work in progress : regulators and policymakers are constantly looking for additional evidence and insights on how to best reconcile stability and efficiency in the developments of our financial systems. the thrust of our efforts has been to increase the robustness of financial institutions and infrastructures. it is not in our power to eliminate financial shocks and volatility. it is our duty to make sure that they can be absorbed without undue