fresh board talent. at the international level, more expanded efforts were undertaken to strengthen corporate governance in the financial sector in 2008 following the global financial crisis. it became evident that ineffective boards and weak senior management oversight had been key contributing factors to the failure of some of the largest global financial institutions. conversely, institutions that performed better or were able to weather the crisis were those with a reputation for prudence, sound corporate governance and risk management practices. at the international level, the basel committee on banking supervision updated its guidance on principles for enhancing corporate governance in 2010. this update followed the committee ’ s decision to revisit the 2006 guidelines in the wake of the financial crisis. the updated guidance reaffirmed the continued relevance and critical importance of the existing principles and highlighted the key areas which merit the most focus. these include the bis central bankers ’ speeches monitoring of risks on a firm - wide and individual entity basis. the guidance also emphasised the board ’ s oversight of compensation structures. earlier this year, the oecd launched a review of its principles of corporate governance. the review, the first since the standards were updated in 2004, was commissioned to take into account developments that have taken place in the corporate sector and capital markets. in malaysia, the securities commission launched the corporate governance blueprint in 2011 which outlined the strategic objectives for strengthening market discipline among capital market participants. one of the deliverables of the blueprint was the publication of a revised malaysian code on corporate governance in 2012. a key feature of the code is the emphasis on the role of directors and the need for a strong board composition. within the financial sector, the foundations for corporate governance have been further strengthened with the enactment of the financial services act 2013 and islamic financial services act 2013. the functions and collective duties of boards of directors, and the fit and proper requirements for key responsible persons, are now clearly encoded in law. boards of directors are now required by statute, when making decisions, to consider the interests of various stakeholders such as depositors, investment account holders, insurance policy owners and takaful participants. the new legislations also provide bank negara malaysia with enhanced powers to take pre - emptive supervisory interventions against financial institutions to mitigate the risks of governance failures. following these changes in the law, existing corporate governance standards that are applicable to financial institutions are also being reviewed by bank negara malaysia. the review would reflect the higher expectations demanded of the industry given the importance of the financial system to the economy. the

directors ’ network has emerged, enabling peer learning, and the sharing and exchange of experiences among financial institutions directors. role of stakeholders in elevating the standards of corporate governance in the financial services industry, shareholders play an important role to engage boards and hold them to account. demands for improvements in corporate governance could be driven by the institutional investors and minority shareholders. but for this to happen, they require relevant information on the financial institutions performance and operations. in this context, the bank has outlined proposals in the financial sector blueprint to require periodic audits of corporate and shariah governance to help investors better understand whether disclosed governance arrangements are reflected in actual practice. this will supplement the role of existing disclosure requirements which help investors assess the financial condition and risk profile of financial institutions. conclusion it is my hope that as we venture into the future, this workshop will steer a dialogue towards developing a deeper understanding of the contemporary issues that confront the industry and yield new perspectives and insights around governance issues. programmes such as this make an important contribution to that process. on that note, i wish you a productive and engaging workshop. bis central bankers ’ speeches