level of financial literacy among the consumers and businesses. towards achieving this objective, consumer education programs have been conducted, providing information among others, on the unique characteristics of islamic banking and finance, islamic financial products and services and the underlying shariah principles and concepts. enhanced consumer awareness is expected to strengthen the role of market discipline in driving the islamic financial institutions towards strict shariah compliance, enhanced operational efficiency, and strengthened risk management infrastructures and practices. in malaysia, islamic banks and conventional banks with islamic banking windows observe similar prudential standards as imposed on conventional banks such as the minimum risk weighted capital ratio ( rwcr ), standards for corporate governance and risk management, financial disclosures and know your customer policy. the principles of prudent management and enhanced operational efficiency are inculcated through the minimum risk weighted capital adequacy requirement. corporate governance standards have been enforced through specific guidelines on the code of conduct for directors, officers and employees of the banking institutions and guidelines on the directorship and prohibition of loans to directors, staff and their selected corporations. in addition, strict compliance with the tenets of shariah would also ensure that the islamic financial institutions are managed on the basis of a high degree of prudence, ethics and integrity. the basel committee on banking supervision has enhanced its capital regulation to include operational risk in the computation of capital adequacy, in addition to credit and market risks. the task of formulating a framework that addresses the peculiar risks associated with islamic banking is being undertaken by the islamic financial services board ( ifsb ), which serves as an international standardsetting body for regulatory and supervisory agencies. its mandate is to develop prudential, regulatory and disclosure standards for islamic finance, and promote uniformity in the best practices on the governance of islamic financial institutions worldwide. in this respect, the ifsb has recently issued two prudential standards on risk management and capital adequacy for institutions offering islamic financial services, which are recommended for implementation in 2007. the ifsb has also made progress in developing three other standards on corporate governance, transparency and market discipline, and the supervisory review process to be released in due course. a key challenge in managing operational risk in islamic banking is ensuring shariah compliance. bank supervisors in their assessment would need to give due attention to the adequacy of the financial institutions'board and management oversight, policies, procedures and limits, risk measurement, monitoring and management information systems, and internal controls. the

jean - claude trichet : euro in wider circles speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the conference “ goodbye lisbon ” organised by the european banking congress, frankfurt, 19 november 2004. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to share with you some thoughts on the euro in wider circles. reflecting on what the term “ wider circles ” means for the euro, i think of the eu member states that still use their national currencies and that aim to adopt the single currency in the future, and in particular the ten new member states that joined the eu earlier this year and their path towards the euro. let me briefly say a few words on this aspect. the euro goes east it is now 15 years ago that the berlin wall fell, giving rise to one of the most astonishing political and economic transformations in european history. who could have imagined 15 years ago that in may 2004, eight countries in central and eastern europe, together with two countries in the mediterranean, would be members of the european union? the perspective of joining the european union and eventually adopting a european single currency was out of sight for even the most imaginative minds. in only 15 years, these countries managed to restore and entrench democratic institutions and market economies, replacing the communist ones that were imposed there before. the accession of ten new countries to the eu was an important milestone in a process that will lead to the eventual adoption of the euro by these new member states. the euro will go east and south and the road to the adoption of the euro is embedded in a well - defined institutional framework. a crucial phase before euro adoption is erm ii membership for at least two years. although there are no formal criteria to be met for entry into erm ii, successful participation in the mechanism requires that major policy adjustments - for example relating to fiscal policy and price liberalisation - are undertaken before joining the mechanism. participation in erm ii is an important means to anchor exchange rate and inflation expectations and to promote consistently sound policies. it helps to orient macroeconomic policies to stability, while at the same time allowing for a degree of flexibility, if needed, through the wide standard fluctuation band and the possibility of adjusting the central parity. as you know, three new eu countries have in the meantime entered the erm ii : with effect from 28 june 2004, estonia, lithuania and slovenia joined denmark as participants in the mechanism. the three new entrants joined