##bi denominated funds and securities transactions. on the retail payment front, measures are also geared towards enhancing the efficiency, accessibility and quality of retail payment infrastructure and services. to this end, bank negara malaysia has focused on creating the enabling environment to accelerate the country ’ s migration to electronic payments ( e - payments ), to enhance economic efficiency and increase our competitiveness. this has been done by establishing a conducive pricing and incentive structure, enhancing the e - payment infrastructure and promoting awareness and confidence in the use of e - payments. these initiatives to modernise our financial system has already begun to yield results bringing about the desired cost savings. in concluding my remarks, let me congratulate swift on this occasion of the expansion of their operations here. i also wish the management and staff of the kuala lumpur corporate services centre every success in your endeavours and look forward to its contribution to our economy as we advance forward in this significantly challenging and rapidly evolving economic environment. bis central bankers ’ speeches

standards of financial and business practices. this is encouraging as ultimately, both the industry and bank negara have a common interest in promoting an efficient and stable insurance market in malaysia. at bank negara, we are continuing to strengthen our regulatory and supervisory capabilities as well as sharpen our focus. as those from malaysia would be familiar, we are now into the fourth month of the bank ’ s new regulatory and supervisory structure. the new organisational structure for the regulatory and supervisory functions within the bank were realigned back in november last year to move from the previous sectoral approach to regulation, to one that will integrate the bank ’ s regulation of the different financial sectors under its purview along functional lines. as a result, the functions previously under the former insurance regulation department have now been assumed by the newly established financial sector development department, the prudential policy department, the consumer and market conduct department and the financial surveillance department. on the supervision side – or better known to you as the examiners that come and pay you a visit every now and then – a new department known as the financial conglomerates supervision department has also been established to facilitate the integrated supervision of financial service groups that include both banks and insurance companies under their umbrella. the new cross - sector regulatory structure allows us to modernise the regulatory framework for both the insurance and banking sectors at a more equal pace. the increased synergies created will enable the bank to apply the best regulatory practices in the banking sector to the insurance sector, and vice versa. regulations in the area of market conduct, for example, are more advanced in the insurance sector than they are on the banking sector. on the other hand, the regulatory framework for risk management and capital adequacy is generally more developed on the banking side. under the new structure, the bank is able to leverage on the more advanced developments in either sector to enhance the regulatory framework for both sectors simultaneously if possible. this, in turn will promote a more consistent and comparable regulatory regime for the banking and insurance sectors. substantial resources have already been allocated to this effort, particularly in the areas of corporate governance, product regulation and financial reporting which have an important bearing on banks and insurers that are within the same group. the rationalisation of current regulations will also take into account international developments which will help to reduce the compliance costs for internationally active insurers operating in malaysia. the transition to the new structure has, so far, been smooth. as expected, the industry is