technical compliance re - rating of 12 recommendations, of which 11 were successfully upgraded. the financial services commission, the bank of mauritius and the financial intelligence unit closely collaborate to fight financial crime. a memorandum of understanding between the three regulatory institutions was signed last year. the central bank is currently working on the establishment of a deposit insurance scheme. the legislation was approved by parliament and received presidential assent in april 2019. however, it is yet to be proclaimed. the central bank has already started working on the operational aspects of the scheme, which will guarantee coverage to eligible depositors up to a specific amount. at the same time, we are also working on a crisis resolution framework. collaboration with supervisory authorities many jurisdictions represented here are host to pan - african banking groups and mauritius is no exception. some of our local banks have also extended their footprint on mainland africa. home and host authorities are increasingly required to work closely for effective supervision of banks. the bank of mauritius has signed memoranda of understanding with 17 foreign regulatory authorities, which include banking sector regulators of kenya, south africa, nigeria, to name a few. consolidated supervision is now part of our supervisory toolkit and is conducted on a regular basis. home and host regulators are able to share their insights on the risk management framework of banking groups in supervisory college meetings. new areas such as cyber risks are closely monitored. in march 2019, the ombudsperson for financial services was appointed. complaints from consumers of financial services against financial institutions licensed by the bank of mauritius and the financial services commission are now handled by the ombudsperson ’ s office. this is expected to fast - track complaints resolution. it is also incumbent on the office of ombudsperson for financial services to inform and educate the general public on investments in financial services offered by financial institutions. my address will be incomplete if i do not mention the significance of corporate governance in banks. although a risk - based supervisory framework will ensure the strength and credibility of our financial system, it cannot eliminate the possibility of failure of an institution. i constantly remind my officers to keep a close watch on the governance practices of banks. it is an advice that i extend to all of you. concluding note i am sure that the seminar will provide you with a good insight into the challenges of implementing ifrs9 as well as key takeaways from the experiences of other countries. learning from others ’ experience will undoubtedly assist you all to improve your own supervisory practices. i am delighted to open this seminar on “

superstorm sandy caused substantial damage to homes and the region ’ s infrastructure and severe economic disruptions in late 2012, the local economy as a whole bounced back quickly. despite the robust job growth, the unemployment rate among city residents has been persistently high – though it did fall to 8. 0 percent in december, nearly a 5 - year low. potential workers are not counted as unemployed unless they are actively looking for work, so this relatively high rate of unemployment, in part, reflects the relative strength in labor force participation, as the city ’ s residents remain engaged and looking for work. in contrast, at the national level, the picture is quite different – job growth has been slower and proportionately more people have dropped out of the labor force. perhaps surprisingly, while historically a key driver of the local economy, the finance sector has not been a leader in terms of job growth recently. instead, employment in new york city ’ s finance sector and the securities industry specifically, has been essentially flat over the past two years. the city ’ s job gains in this expansion have been broad - based across other sectors, indicating a healthy diversification within the economy. conditions in brooklyn now let ’ s focus on brooklyn. the borough ’ s economy has been particularly strong in recent years. compared with the other boroughs, brooklyn has seen generally stronger job growth, a stronger housing market, and stronger trends in wage and salary earnings. this strength is exemplified by the transformation of industrial neighborhoods – such as dumbo, red hook, greenpoint, east williamsburg, gowanus and bushwick – into increasingly diversified residential and commercial neighborhoods ; and the recent development of the atlantic yards and brooklyn navy yard. this changing landscape has helped spur economic activity which has created many new jobs in the borough. indeed, employment held up well during the recession, declining by less than 2 percent over a brief period in early 2009, and has averaged a nearly 3 percent annualized growth rate since then. job growth has been particularly strong at retailers, hotels and restaurants, and also service firms ranging from advertising to engineering. that said, the employment picture does have some difficulties. for example, there is concern over some well - paying health sector jobs given the financial strain at long island college hospital and interfaith medical center and the pressure to close those institutions. brooklyn ’ s economic vitality is also reflected in the commercial real estate market, as both office and retail vacancy rates have fallen steadily over the past few years. in fact, office