more pointedly to acknowledge both the binding power of statutory law and the more subtle capacities of common law that survive, resilient, through the manifold tests of time. performance criteria the commonwealth heads of government at their meeting in june this year formally addressed the governance of international banks that : “ global crises require truly global and universal response … ” and they called on these institutions to exhibit : more legitimacy, fairer representation, more responsiveness, flexibility, transparency, accountability and effectiveness … they made a commitment to pursue these matters with the un and in other international fora, as a matter of urgency. but for us now, this very critique of governance of international banks can provide the tests for our future plans. are we giving enough weight in our plans for regional union to these seven critical tests : legitimacy, representation, responsiveness, flexibility, transparency, accountability and, above all, effectiveness? how do we score on these test at national level? tough talk from the commonwealth ; tough tests for us! yet are these not the very pertinent principles we should adopt for governing the governors? as we look forward to our regional banking and our closer monetary engagement, what import do these performance criteria have for any future contract of marriage? what do these principles imply, indeed, for the governance of central banks at national level? will they help to provide a new more relevant architecture, to ensure the resilience we shall need, to confront the looming crises of confidence and sustainability in our region and beyond? for as a p herbert, that wit and lawyer of yester - year, once remarked : “ the critical period in matrimony is breakfast - time ” the cyber - state financial services and their ict dependent back - up are rapidly becoming the over - riding powers in our economies. our leaders here refer to our “ cyber ” city. now that word “ cyber ”, derives from the greek, meaning “ steersman ”. it has become a metaphor for guiding the ship of state. but after breakfast when we go ahead in regional banking, if the governments are at the helm ; the private sector, the engine, are the central banks to be confined to be merely the brakes? the trouble with the imf and the world bank is not in their lack of capacity for applying or releasing the brakes, but they ran off the road when they tried their hand at navigation and driving. this sorry tale has lessons for us at national level at the interface of the governance of banking, finance and political government.

the lessons are even more pertinent as we move towards the new vision of the regional and global banking roles for the future. the continental financial plates have been undergoing an intractable process of geophysical shifts. the fulcrum has migrated from washington to dubai and beijing. it is not just the washington consensus that has collapsed, under the rising tide of globalization. we are now engulfed in a climate change in economic and financial affairs. superseding authority and history, we now have the evidence based test of performance. we now have the call for essential legitimacy, relevance and effectiveness. complaints on the bretton woods institutions are not new. but the difference is that these protests have at last reached the ears and conscience of those running the bretton woods institutions themselves! the charges are manifold but in the midst of the current crises in global finance, the worst charge against any bank is that it has become “ a fire brigade that is too far away. ” emerging economies and developing countries have become so disenchanted with the existing global financial architecture, not least countries in this region, that there is emerging what professor woods has termed “ anger in africa ” towards those ageing financial global dinosaurs. no wonder at it, so locked in the past are they seen to have become, so inflexible and prescriptive, so inept at responding to a changing world. a long engagement as we look at our tasks ahead, we might do so in the light of that common family experience of preparing for the marriage of a daughter or son. joy tempered with realism. so i guess we are in for a rather long engagement in sub - regional banking. this is our seventh encounter and at present we are just about holding hands. the prospect of formal registration and the very act of consummation is, have no fear, yet a long way off. but as george meredith ironically declared : “ kissing don ’ t last : cookery do! ” thus if we are to progress from flirtation to commitment, we must enter the kitchen, roll up our sleeves and encounter the heat, global warming and all! beyond the looking glass for this our 7th meeting here in mauritius we have a clear agenda on important current aspects of monetary and financial matters. at this time when banking has become a rather hot issue of geopolitics, we might wish to heed the grinding of the underlying geopolitical plates. it is, i believe, an opportune moment. let us, then,