delisle worrell : credit unions have a competitive edge feature address by dr delisle worrell, governor of the central bank of barbados, at the awards ceremony of endeavour cooperative credit union ltd, bridgetown, 7 october 2013. * * * i very much welcome this opportunity to address your awards ceremony and to join with you in celebrating the endeavour credit union ’ s growth and contribution to its members ’ wellbeing to date. over the past four decades or thereabouts, credit unions in barbados, the us and elsewhere have grown in importance relative to other types of financial institutions. credit unions have been able to achieve this because of their competitive edge vis - a - vis banks, in serving the needs of individuals and households. let me elaborate. as you know, barbados now has no locally owned banks, a situation which is not unfamiliar to us. for most of our history our banks have been foreign owned, an inevitable consequence of the fact that barbados is such a small economy. by and large, very big banks tend to have a more solid foundation than small banks, because they are able to spread the risks that are inherent to banking over many activities, countries and regions. that offers a better chance of mitigating the effects of a downturn in any one activity, and the impact of loss of profits in one area may be compensated by gains in other areas. locally owned banks in small countries do not have the same range and scope, and they tend to be relatively unprofitable, compared with branches of foreign banks. as our banks have modernised their systems and controls, and as the international financial market has become more competitive, banks have become more impersonal and more inflexible in their approach to lending. this is not something that is welcomed either by banks or their customers, but it is an inevitable consequence of large size and increasing complexity. building relationships with your customers is the safest way to do banking. the most successful banker, in the long run, is the banker who has the largest portfolio of dependable borrowers, who are known to have the willingness and ability to service their borrowings on time. the best way to establish the borrower ’ s credentials is to build a relationship with them, so that they may establish a track record that speaks to their competence and prudence. however, big banks with wide networks find it difficult to do this in today ’ s dynamic world. instead they must rely mainly on rules of thumb, credit

“ how paranoid nationalism corrupts ”. i if we are not careful, the 2020s could bring us back to a situation reminiscent the darkest hours of the european history in the 1930s. the tragic events in israel since saturday are a very unfortunate reminder of this sad reality. page 2 sur 8 a2. the disease of nationalism is jeopardising international cooperation exactly at a time when we need it most. this is what i call the “ global public goods ” paradox. let me explain. probably more than ever, the global community must safeguard and deliver on existential public goods : ecological transition to address climate change, pandemic preparedness, digitalisation and cybersecurity, financial stability in the face of increased global debt, to name just four of them. these issues can only be resolved in a collective and concerted manner : none of us can tackle them alone. meanwhile, multilateralism is in a crisis without precedent. once a beacon of great progress, the g20 is clearly underperforming given the global challenges ahead. despite the growing impact of climate change, i have serious concerns that this priority is at risk of fading away, as observed in the most recent g20 and international discussions, due also to the increased polarisation of political debates around climate and environmental issues in the united states. europe is ahead ; the rest of the world shouldn ’ t lag behind – this would be my wish, my call, for the marrakech agenda in the next days. as geopolitical rifts deepen and trust fades, it is becoming more and more difficult for the international fora – including the imf and multilateral development banks – to deliver on their mandates. but let us be candid : multilateralism is first and foremost the victim of the russian war, but also partially of a backlash against the predominance of the global north and the post - wwii international order. only a system in which each country feels legitimately represented will be viable in the long term. we need to find pragmatic ways forward : i ’ ll come back to this later. a3. a few lessons drawn from european cooperation. as imperfect as it is, the european union is a historical experiment in overcoming decades of nationalist rivalry, from which we can draw three useful lessons for today ’ s multilateral challenges. the first relates to the objectives of cooperation. to bring results and cement solidarity, multilateral action should focus on limited, pragmatic and shared