jessica chew cheng lian : ifrs 17 insurance contracts welcome address by ms jessica chew cheng lian, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the joint ifrs foundation & amp ; masb regional workshop “ ifrs 17 insurance contracts ”, kuala lumpur, 17 may 2018. * * * good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to today ’ s regional workshop on ifrs 17 standards for insurance contracts, jointly organised by the ifrs foundation and the malaysian accounting standards board ( masb ). allow me first of all to congratulate the ifrs foundation and masb for putting this workshop together, with an impressive line - up of experts and practitioners to share their knowledge and insights on ifrs 17. we are especially privileged to have with us today two senior members of the iasb board mr. darrel scott and mr. amaro gomez, both of whom have been with the iasb for more than 10 years. the strong interest in ifrs 17 and its importance both to financial systems and businesses are clear from the turnout today, with more than 250 participants from over 15 countries, representing industry players, accounting firms, national standard setting bodies and financial regulators. it is an honour for me to offer some brief remarks this morning to kick off today ’ s workshop. on my way here, i recalled a joke in which a lady was once told by her doctor that she would only have six months to live. understandably very distraught, she asks the doctor for advice on what she should do. the doctor suggested that she should marry a cpa. “ will that make me live longer? ” the lady asks hopefully. “ no, ” the doctor replies. “ but it will seem longer ”. well, i promise to keep my remarks short, although since this is an accounting workshop, you will forgive me if they might seem long. as you know, ifrs 17 was finalised and issued in 2017. today, the 17th of may, also marks 17 years since the international accounting standards board took on the job to develop a globally accepted accounting standard for insurance contracts. what a remarkable coincidence indeed! the final ifrs 17 standards represent a historic milestone – for the first time, insurers in over 120 countries, with assets worth at least usd13 trillion, will be reporting financial statements based on a common set of standards when ifrs 17 comes into effect in january 2021. almost two decades ago, standard setters embarked on a hercule

muhammad bin ibrahim : charting new frontiers – financial advisers the future keynote address by mr muhammad bin ibrahim, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the inaugural conference of the association of financial advisers “ charting new frontiers – financial advisers the future ”, kuala lumpur, 31 october 2012. * * * i would like to congratulate the association and its members for your commitment, which has resulted in the successful formation of the afa to champion and promote the interests of all licensed financial advisers in malaysia. the formation of afa is most timely, and marks a significant milestone in the progressive maturing of the financial advisory industry. since the introduction of fas in 2005, we have seen commendable growth within the industry, with the number of licensed fas rising from 2 to 17, and the number of licensed fa representatives increasing from 17 to 229 today. the formation of the afa is timely as it provides a platform to encourage greater collaboration among fas to instill greater professionalism among its members and i expect the afa to play an important role in coming up with clear strategies to propel the financial advisory sector towards greater progress and growth. developments in the insurance and takaful sectors there are some broad developments within the economy and the financial sector that will expand the opportunity for growth in the provision of independent financial advisory services. first, the insurance and takaful sectors have seen positive and continuous growth over the last five years, with total insurance premiums transacted and takaful contributions recording an average annual growth of 4. 9 %, with annual growth peaking at 13 % in 2010. in terms of insurance penetration, in 2011, 67 out of 100 malaysians had some form of life insurance or family takaful coverage as compared to only 59 out of 100 malaysians in 2006. this means there remains a large untapped segment of the population with no life insurance or family takaful protection that the profession can further develop. second, in terms of distribution channels, the agency force is still the dominant intermediation point for the insurance industry. at present, the market share of financial advisers as a delivery channel is still low and therefore, the prospect of growth is tremendous. the prominence of the agency force as a delivery channel of choice for the distribution of life insurance business is evidenced from the more than 10 % growth in the number of life insurance agents enrolled between 2006 and 2011. consistent with the increase in the agency force, the expenditure dedicated to maintain this