that are always occurring in our markets. for developing economies, like most of ours, the changes will bring their own sets of challenges and, as securities regulators, we need to ensure that we address these challenges while taking advantage of the benefits they offer. technology is playing a vital role in every aspect of financial activity globally and has transformed the securities industry. even in our region we are witnessing secondary market trading moving to electronic platforms. fiji witnessed this with our very own south pacific stock exchange just last year. brokerdealers are now using powerful computer systems and sophisticated applications to electronically send and receive market data, research reports and company information. for most markets and market professionals, the internet has enhanced communications networks. with all these benefits for the market players, we market supervisors are left with a bis central bankers ’ speeches definite need to upgrade our market surveillance techniques. i am pleased to note that the use of technology to aid in the supervision of market intermediaries will be a topic covered in this seminar. ladies and gentlemen, the globalisation of securities markets has had a significant impact on the nature and level of trading, as well as the provision of related services. as the desire and capacity for cross - border trading and cross - border services have increased, so has the need to ensure that involved parties are acting properly in performing their duties. proper surveillance of cross - border market professionals and regulated firms is critical to the maintenance of the integrity of securities markets. participants should also look forward to learning about, and sharing, various supervisory tools for cross - border supervision in the next few days. in line with the developments in securities markets, the nature of the products offered by the market, as well as recent failures of related industries, it is important for regulators to be mindful of real - time risks as well as perceived risks associated with the industry, its products and its players. i am pleased that the organizers have included risk - based supervision in the seminar program. we need to be always forward - scanning for likely risks in our own markets to enable us to effectively minimize or eliminate their negative effects. in terms of market conduct, when investors have confidence in the integrity of our markets, the economic benefits can be significant and are generally well recognised. conversely, the economic damage caused by market misconduct, such as insider trading and market manipulation, can also be significant. while it is commonly accepted that such adverse activity can result in a private loss for investors, the public cost, which is the harm to the integrity of

plans of vulnerable countries must be corrected swiftly by structural fiscal improvements. with regard to the new provisions of the eu economic governance framework that recently came into force, it is crucial that all the elements be implemented rigorously. only ambitious policies to prevent and correct macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances will foster public confidence in the soundness of policy actions, and thus strengthen overall economic sentiment. the governing council welcomes the european council ’ s agreement to move to a stronger economic union, which was announced on 9 december 2011. the new fiscal compact, bis central bankers ’ speeches comprising a fundamental restatement of the fiscal rules together with the fiscal commitments that euro area governments have made, is an important contribution to ensuring the long - run sustainability of public finances in the euro area countries. the wording of the rules needs to be unambiguous and effective. the further development of the european financial stability tools should make the operation of the european financial stability facility and the european stability mechanism more effective. the swift deployment of these tools is now urgently needed. concerning the involvement of the private sector in financial assistance for indebted countries, we welcome the reaffirmation that the decisions taken on 21 july and 26 and 27 october 2011 concerning greek debt are unique and exceptional. to accompany fiscal consolidation, the governing council calls for the urgent implementation of bold and ambitious structural reforms. going hand in hand, fiscal consolidation and structural reforms would strengthen confidence, growth prospects and job creation. key reforms should be rapidly carried out to help the euro area countries to improve competitiveness, increase the flexibility of their economies and enhance their longer - term growth potential. product market reforms should focus on fully opening up markets to increased competition. labour market reforms should focus on removing rigidities and enhancing wage flexibility. we are now at your disposal for questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches