displayed by our finalists. if those presentation are anything to go by, the future of central banking and monetary policy in south africa will be in good hands. you can see snippets of their presentations in a video that we will play at the end of the event. i would like to pay special tribute to all the teachers who supported the learners. we are aware that you invested a lot of effort and hard work into this project. congratulations to schools whose learners reached the final stages of the competition. your support and encouragement exposed learners to a rare experience that will leave an indelible mark in their memories. we salute both the teachers and principals for making a difference mpc challenge objective achieved the main purpose of the mpc schools challenge is to promote interest in economics and deepen the understanding of monetary policy. the quality of your essays and presentations is evidence that the objective of expanding the understanding of monetary policy is being achieved. to our learners, remember that nothing of value comes without an effort. your presence here as finalists bears testimony to your commitment, hard work and dedication. we encourage you to pursue careers in the field of economics and central banking. to the judges, moderators, markers, economists and the mpc schools challenge core team, congratulations on a job well done. thank you.

daniel mminele : south africa in the global regulatory context – progress, challenges and opportunities keynote address by mr daniel mminele, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, at the 8th risk and return conference, cape town, 13 march 2014. * 1. * * introduction good morning ladies and gentlemen. thank you to incisive media for the kind invitation and the privilege for me to deliver the opening keynote address for this 8th risk and return south africa conference. this conference provides a good opportunity for dialogue and sharing of experiences as it brings together a wide spectrum of financial market participants, especially risk and investment management professionals, at a time when there are critical, wide - ranging and historic changes to the financial markets landscape. while there does not seem to be any major disagreement around the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that were exposed by the global financial crisis, there have been intense debates around how best to go about strengthening regulatory frameworks to restore confidence in financial systems. these range from appropriateness of certain regulatory standards based on country - specific circumstances ( danger of “ one - size - fits - all ” approach ), the speed and sequencing of implementation, to possible unintended consequences that could stifle innovation and development, reduce liquidity in certain markets, or affect the flow and cost of credit. i have been asked to speak on the progress, challenges and opportunities of global regulatory developments, and in particular, south africa ’ s experience. the global financial regulatory reform agenda is a daunting and gigantic project for all involved, and in the limited time available this morning one is unlikely to do justice to the task. following some remarks to set the context, i will talk about the regulatory alignment and supervisory change in south africa, make brief comments about our regulatory architecture reform, then touch on the 2014 g20 priorities for financial regulatory reform and look at where south africa is in relation to that. 2. from crisis to basel iii the costs of the global financial crisis were significant and included substantial job losses and depressed economic activity. the severity of it was compounded by a number of factors, including a pro - cyclical deleveraging process and weaknesses in the banking sector, such as inadequate and low - quality capital, and insufficient liquidity buffers. the interconnectedness of systemically important financial institutions ( sifis ) meant that these weaknesses and consequences thereof, quickly spread to other countries and regions. on the regulatory side, inadequate mandates, autonomy, resources and instances of regulatory