fail. an international agreement on a cross - border resolution mechanism for internationally - active banks is not likely to be reached in the near future. we are waiting with bated breath for more rapid progress with the banking union at the level of the european union. we cannot wait for all the lessons to be learned and new institutions to be forged, before we, as regulator, reflect on how these lessons can be applied to our own banking system. our problem is somewhat smaller, and certainly less intractable – provided we have an open mind about it. someone has said : “ more powerful than the will to win is the courage to begin. ” in the case of barclays, we have amply demonstrated the courage to begin the process of restructuring. our banking sector is made up of 21 banks, of which five operate as branches of foreign banks. of these, we consider a few to be domestic systemically important banks ( dsibs ), in view of their size and complex structures. the global crisis highlighted two sources of vulnerability that the bank needs to address to ensure the stability of the domestic financial system. the first is the need to protect affiliates of cross - border banks operating in technically, it is a surrender of licence under section 11 ( 7 ) of the banking act 2004. bis central bankers ’ speeches our jurisdiction from any potential problem affecting their parents in their home country. the second vulnerability stems from the fact that the failure of a dsib could not only impair the provision of key financial services but also have knock - on effects on other parts of the domestic economy. these issues have been exercising my mind for quite some time. this is why i have been encouraging branches of foreign banks operating in mauritius to convert into locally - incorporated subsidiaries, and urging our dsibs to reduce the complexity of their structures by resorting to what is now labelled as “ ring - fencing. ” we have been setting the stage for some time. that is where barclays enters the scene, in pursuit of its “ one africa strategy ”. it is seeking to align the legal structure of its mauritius branch business with the rest of barclays africa entities. barclays sought our approval to become a wholly - owned subsidiary of barclays bank plc. barclays was the first of the targeted banks to do so. just as it had also been the first to set up a local advisory board for its branch operation in february 2012, well before we enshrined this in the revised guideline on corporate governance in

orderly liquidity conditions in the domestic financial market and to align market interest rates with the policy rate. as from august 2023, the bank of mauritius resumed issuances of bom bills of maturities up to 1 year and bom notes in the 2 - year and 3 - year tenor while it is issuing on a weekly basis 7 - day bom bills. under the new monetary policy framework, overnight deposit and lending facility are available to banks at their discretion. ladies and gentlemen while the pandemic created manifold challenges, the bank of mauritius also managed to turn those into stepping stones. in partnership with the banking industry, we designed a strategic roadmap to chart the way forward for the sector over the next 10 years. the strategic roadmap aims at supporting the sustained expansion and innovation of the banking sector and reinforcing the position of mauritius as an ifc. the strategic roadmap " future of banking in mauritius " was launched in september 2022. the roadmap is the result of discussions held with various stakeholders – including the public and private sectors, the civil society as well as foreign experts and specialists across africa, europe and asia. the roadmap contains a series of initiatives targeting specific strategic areas. in terms of market access, they cover the asia and the africa global business strategy. several other measures will assist the banking sector to demarcate itself in terms of the range of products and services offered as well as the respective delivery channels. additional initiatives relate to the fundamental building blocks that are deemed critical to enhance the attractiveness and soundness of the banking sector – such as the regulatory regime, digitalisation, and esg. 3 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches the translation of the roadmap into reality is overseen by the bank of mauritius, in close partnership with all concerned stakeholders. its implementation will be staggered over the next few years. three task forces have already been set up to work on some of the initiatives. one of the key initiatives relates to promoting the setting up of regional treasury headquarters in mauritius by multinational corporations. some of the initial conditions are already in place. progress on several other fronts is ongoing to lure players in the corporate treasury activity sphere. once treasury management offerings expand and become more visible, banking business is set to benefit from scaled - up operations. giving the right incentives alongside building awareness and confidence lie at the core of our strategy. ladies and gentlemen we cannot predict the future with certainty. however, i can safely say that