is entitled, drumblair : memories of jamaican childhood, which tells the story about the house that nurtured the brilliant and artistic manleys. but to me drumblair is not only a stunning biography about a house in which rachel manley grew up with her grandparents. to me drumblair represents a deeper narrative about a larger house, the west indies federation. when edna manley ’ s own cousin, alexander bustamante – jamaica ’ s first prime minister after independence – pulled out of the just two - year old federation in 1962 and caused the collapse of self - government for the entire west indies, dr. eric williams resorted to a new political arithmetic captured in his now famous utterance “ one from ten leaves nought ” and went on to take trinidad and tobago on the road to independence. today, caribbean leaders must consider a new drumblair, a new house. the caricom integration model birthed in august 1973 by the leaders of the then four independent countries – dr. eric williams, michael manley, errol barrow and forbes burnham – as a consolation prize to the federation has survived for more than 40 years. this is a significant achievement. in my respectful view, however, the caricom model which seeks to connect our small island states through trade and markets, has reached its limits. we need to build a new house – a new west indian national economy – that moves beyond trade and markets to one that powerfully unites all nations touched by the caribbean sea so that we can better respond to cross - cutting challenges that threaten the region ’ s future. regional central banks with their powerful development mandate must orchestrate regional solutions to what are undoubtedly regional problems, especially devising a strategy to permanently exit from the caribbean ’ s massive public debt overhang while redefining our love - hate relationship with the international financial institutions, particularly the imf. in her second book entitled “ slipstream : a daughter remembers ”, rachel manley offers a deeply moving personal account of her relationship with her father both as a child and as a woman, a father who is considered the most loved and feared, cherished and reviled, cursed and worshipped, and forgiven and unforgiven figure in jamaica ’ s history. bis central bankers ’ speeches in a most discerning passage about michael manley, that i find strikingly reminiscent of the charismatic influence of dr. eric williams on trinidad and tobago, rachel manley writes “ the island was living

ewart s williams : preparing enhanced insurance regulations for trinidad and tobago speaking notes by mr ewart s williams, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, for the “ public consultation of the draft insurance bill & accompanying regulations ”, port - of - spain, 10 december 2009. * * * introduction good morning ladies and gentlemen. my role is to make a few introductory remarks to get the main discussion going. obviously we all would like this to be a serious working session and not an opportunity for speechmaking. let me start by saying how delighted i am to be with you this morning as today ’ s public consultation which marks the final phase of a process that started roughly five years ago. as you would recall the regulation of the insurance sector was transferred from the office of the supervisor of insurance in the ministry of finance, to the central bank in 2004. the process of preparing a new insurance act has been a collaborative approach between the central bank and a stakeholders ’ committee, comprising members of attic, the brokers association and other industry consultants. this collaborative approach bears testimony to the firm commitment of the central bank to ensuring that the legislation for the sector strikes the right balance between international best practices and local market conditions and circumstances. prior to april 2004, the central bank had oversight of 6 commercial banks and 15 non - banks. after the shift in regulatory authority, the bank took on responsibility for 51 insurance companies, and 256 registered pension plans. this was a major undertaking and necessitated a significant increase in staffing and infrastructural requirements, including training. the insurance sector, as you know, is a major contributor to the domestic economy. it accounts for close to $ 40 billion, second only to the $ 88 billion for commercial banks. the sector is a major repository for private savings and by covering risks and unexpected developments ; it facilitates private and public sector activity. in short, the industry is one of enormous economic and social value and critical to our developmental efforts. the legislation that underpins insurance activity in trinidad and tobago is grossly outdated. the basic act dates back to 1966 and was modified in 1980. as all of you know better than i, the insurance industry of today bears little resemblance to that of 1966 or even 1980. as i am sure you know, inadequate financial regulation or regulatory failure has been widely cited as one of the factors behind the international financial crisis of 2008 – 2009. as a consequence of this global financial crisis comprehensive reforms are underway to address the weaknesses which were exposed