and subsidiaries of major public companies in north america and europe are incorporated here. these subsidiaries must adhere to the sarbanes oxley or similar legislation and this has the potential for exposing local auditors to higher scrutiny, not only from local regulators but foreign ones as well. these include securities commissions and accounting oversight bodies. this has resulted in higher professional indemnity insurance and calls from audit firms for limited liability partnerships. ( on this matter, representations were made to the relevant ministry by icab on behalf of audit firms – successfully so ). these kinds of protective mechanisms help the csme as they give firms a more secure base from which they can grow and can assist their entry into the global marketplace. the csme then plays a key part in the region ’ s defensive mechanism and can be a vehicle for going global. the merging of national boundaries until recently domestic firms principally acted within a domestic market, and this market was governed by national rules and protected by national barriers. the global thrust started long before csme, but now the boundaries between national economies are becoming blurred, as there is a growing penetration of production and markets. such events give rise to new dynamics in terms of markets and production. services have now become a powerful source of income in many countries including ours. this applies to accounting services as well. but even in the services industry there is an overriding need to deal with global forces, regulatory and otherwise, and to ensure that the benefits of the services industry are maximised not only regionally but internationally. the global co - operation phenomena in the past the regional and international dimensions of production were usually the preserve of large multinationals, as they built oligopolies through concentration in national markets, through internationalisation and though the branding of their product. in a sense, the opportunity for local and regional companies to piggy - back on that branding is now most welcomed. what you are marketing today is the deloitte brand and that brings with it name recognition. even though it is also possible to observe a strong concentration in many industries at a global level, resulting in the building of global oligopolies, these oligopolies are at the same time searching for co - operation and for ties with jurisdictions like ours. this search for co - operation results from the limits to concentration and the desire to avoid customer anonymity which can so often be an accompaniment to large size. regulation is becoming very international and as a regulator, we, in the central bank follow what is

the bank will be focusing in the coming months. on behalf of the organizing committee, i thank persons who so kindly participated in the survey. let me add, however, that while there is no one particular topic dealing with the cost - of - living, we hope that the overall programme will equip you to better manage this area. the bank hopes to partner with persons in the financial services and the education sectors to help with the delivery of the national financial education programme. we are therefore inviting commercial banks, the barbados stock exchange, credit unions and other financial entities to come on board to provide technical and other assistance. we have organized a comprehensive sponsorship package. if you are interested in partnering with us and you wish to obtain more details about the partnerships, please contact ms. sadie dixon at the bank. additionally, the committee with responsibility for developing these partnerships may be contacting you. i must add, that while we welcome the participation and involvement of partners we will not be promoting any company ’ s products and services. the national financial education programme is not about marketing products and services. educating the populace on matters related to finance and economics is a critical aspect of our mandate, it ’ s a mandate that we have fulfilled for years, and this programme is yet another initiative in our education campaign. however, as the nomenclature suggests, this programme will be on the national scale and we hope to make all barbadians financially literate. those of you who read the newspapers yesterday about the number of bounced cheques will agree that there is need for skills in budgeting. the result of such financial management and decisions can lead to a considerable improvement in financial decision - making. the length of the programme will depend on its success. the more successful it is, the shorter its duration can be. we trust that the general public will benefit from the programme. i thank you for listening.