r basant roi : a central banker ’ s piece of advice to bankers address by mr r basant roi, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the official inauguration of the new co - operative bank ltd, 9 august 2002. * * * the rt hon prime minister hon deputy prime minister and minister of finance hon ministers chairman and members of the board of directors of new co - operative bank ltd. ladies and gentleman good afternoon i am privileged to address this audience of bankers and representatives of co - operative societies on the occasion of the official inauguration of the new co - operative bank ltd. nearly a hundred and forty years ago, in december 1863, the comptroller of currency and later secretary of the treasury of the united states addressed a letter to all national banks that had just come into operation. retrospectively, i strongly believe that this is rightly an occasion for me to quote 7 very short paragraphs from the nearly 140 - year old letter, more so as i recognise a good number of bankers and representatives of co - operative societies in this audience. each of the seven paragraphs that i am about to share with you remains invaluable pieces of advice to bankers - even after nearly 140 years. first advice “ let no loans be made that are not secured beyond a reasonable contingency. do nothing to foster and encourage speculation. give facilities to legitimate and prudent transactions. make your discounts on as short as the business of your customers will permit and insist upon the payment of all paper at maturity, no matter whether you need the money or not. ” second advice “ distribute your loans rather than concentrate them in a few hands. large loans to a single individual or firm, although sometimes proper and necessary, are generally injudicious and frequently unsafe. large borrowers are apt to control the bank ; and when this is the relation between a bank and its customers, it is not difficult to decide which in the end will suffer. ” third advice “ treat your customer liberally, bearing in mind the fact that a bank prospers as its customers prosper, but never permit them to dictate your policy. ” fourth advice “ if you doubt the propriety of discounting an offering, give the bank the benefit of the doubt and decline it ; never make a discount if you doubt the propriety of doing it. if you have reasons to distrust the integrity of a customer, close his account. never deal with a rascal under the impression that you

encik abdul rasheed ghaffour : optimal balance of paper and digital, cash and cashless ; and next page for physical currency welcoming address by mr encik abdul rasheed ghaffour, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the currency conference 2017, kuala lumpur, 15 may 2017. * * * mr richard haycock, chairman, currency research, fellow central bankers, distinguished participants. a very good morning and a warm selamat datang to malaysia. paper lives on a lot has changed in the past 10 years. in may 2007, there was no such thing as a smartphone. tablets did not exist, and the human race had not discovered the fast - expanding universe of mobile apps. back then, we read the news by leafing through the pages of a large newspaper. we listened to music with cds, and bought or rented dvds to watch movies. today, most of these are streamed through internet devices. when e - book sales increased by over 1, 000 % in the two years leading up to 2010, many questioned the future of the printed book. the bankruptcy of borders in the united states the following year solidified these fears. similarly, there has been much hype about the end of cash. this has been sparked by the rising use of e - payments and the recent proliferation of digital currencies in an increasingly virtual world. however, just as physical books continue to enjoy increasing sales, we have seen cash in circulation rise in many countries, quicker than their gdp growth for some. the majority of global consumer transactions still take place through cash. as previous currency conferences have affirmed, we expect physical cash to remain necessary and relevant. digital media has significantly transformed the way we experience the world. however, it has not brought us to the closing pages for physical media – including notes and coins. this may appear strange, if one considers the fact that much of our communication, planning and transportation revolve around the internet. as a recent mckinsey report puts it, mobile devices have become the “ digital container ” of our daily lives. this marks a profound cultural shift. the smartphone is fast becoming an extension of ourselves. indeed, this digitalisation is altering the way payments are being made. we are not only spending more time online, we are spending more money through online channels. our familiarity with and dependence on mobile devices is unprecedented. i believe that this attachment has made us increasingly comfortable with digital