bank of botswana 2020 media economic briefing - welcome remarks by moses d pelaelo governor july 14, 2020 at 09 : 00 hrs good morning. distinguished, ladies and gentlemen of the media, once again, it is my pleasure, on behalf of the board, management and staff of the bank of botswana, to welcome you to this economic briefing marking the launch and dissemination of the 2019 bank of botswana annual report, in fulfilment of the bank ’ s accountability to its key stakeholders, in this instance, members of the fourth estate, media practitioners. i also want to take this opportunity to recognise and appreciate your continuing coverage of the bank ’ s events, including joining us this morning for this economic briefing, notwithstanding the covid - 19 pandemic constraints and related challenges. communication is increasingly becoming key in our policy “ tool - kit ”, being a means to meet public expectations of a transparent and accountable central bank as well as anchoring policy credibility. the bank continues to explore ways and means to increase channels for sharing information with the public, on various aspects of its operations. therefore, in addition to the revamping of the bank ’ s website in 2019, other platforms, such as social media, are under consideration. to recap, distinguished members of the media, the annual report is published in compliance with the bank of botswana act and, as a statutory requirement, contains a report on the bank ’ s operations and audited financial statements ; therefore, the annual report is the primary vehicle for accountability to the nation on the operations and financial performance of the bank. also, as a statutory requirement, the bank publishes a monthly statement of financial position in the government gazette and submits an annual banking supervision report to the minster of finance and economic development by june 30, each year. i am happy to confirm that these statutory requirements have been consistently adhered to throughout the existence of the bank. the economic briefing this morning has three parts. first, chief financial officer, mr daniel loeto, will provide highlights of the bank ’ s financial performance and operations in 2019 and updates, where relevant. second, it is a tradition that the annual report also includes a review of economic developments and outlook. the review provides an analytical context and explanations for economic developments and prospects, as well as background to policy conduct and operations by the bank. tshokologo alex this will be presented by dr kganetsano, director, research and financial stability department. dr kganetsano

prasarn trairatvorakul : trust as a pillar of the industry keynote speech by dr prasarn trairatvorakul, governor of the bank of thailand, at the asian banker summit 2012 “ trust as a pillar of the industry ”, bangkok, 26 april 2012. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to join all of you today, and to welcome leaders of asian banking community to bangkok. the theme of this year conference, “ trust as a pillar of the industry ”, highlights the fact that the global financial market stands at an important cross - road. the topic of trust inevitably arises after a crisis. the cross - road is about how to reform regulation, that is, how to re - regulate. this is the juncture which we have reached today, with reforms proposals such as those by the basel committee, the financial stability board, or dodd - frank act in the us. all these are attempts to rebuild trust and confidence. it is well known that trust is the cornerstone of the financial industry. but it should also be added that, trust alone is not enough. we also need to have a good dose of healthy skepticism. the reason for this is that we must avoid, on the one hand, overly trusting market mechanism, or on the other hand, overly trusting in regulation. this is because of the rapid changes in the financial system and how risk is transmitted. the last crisis showed how financial innovation and complexity of bank business model overtook risk management and regulation in the west. in asia, economic and financial liberalization is a powerful driving force that is reshaping our financial landscape today. this could potentially open up the gap between risk and our ability to manage it. so what should be our strategy to build trust, but avoid being blinded by our sense of security? the strategy to deal with this is to have trust that is counter balanced by well informed debate on risk management, supervision, and good governance. so, we need a good dose of well - informed skepticism, as well as financially literate public. let me turn to the progress on the global efforts to reform regulation. where are we today? in all of these reforms – be they basel or fsb – the questions we ask are these. have we done enough to rebuild “ trust ” and secure financial soundness? is the international standard right for the local context? are there unintended consequences, i. e. the bad side - effects? getting it right