ewart s williams : launch of managed funds study address by mr ewart s williams, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the securities and exchange commission breakfast, port - of - spain, 25 march 2010. * * * let me first of all thank the securities and exchange commission for the invitation to make a few opening remarks at this breakfast meeting to launch this most timely study. as noted, since the start of trade and financial liberalization in the 1990s, the financial landscape of trinidad and tobago has undergone quite rapid growth and development both in terms of the structure of financial institutions as well as the array of instruments and services they provide. while the commercial banks have remained the dominant sub - sector in terms of its share in total financial assets, we have witnessed relatively strong growth in non - banking institutions such as pension funds ; insurance companies ; collective investment schemes including mutual funds ; and asset management business. to a large extent, this rapid growth has been facilitated by the significant increase in personal incomes and the search for higher returns and portfolio diversification by investors. while a significant degree of effort has been expended on developing information and reporting regimes for the banking sector, the information base for other critical segments of the financial system has lagged somewhat ( behind that of the banking system ). in an effort to fill this gap and to provide a greater array of information for investors and decision makers, the sec, in collaboration with the central bank, sponsored a baseline study in 2005 to gauge and assess the structure and performance of collective investment schemes. this study which was subsequently published in august 2007, noted the rapid rate of growth of the collective investments scheme industry, with funds under management in the mutual fund sector increasing almost fivefold in the period 2000 – 2005. it also pointed to the high concentration of funds under management ; fragmentation in the supervision and regulation of the industry and the need for a comprehensive regulatory framework for the sector. it is now five years since the baseline study on collective investment schemes was undertaken and, in the meantime, the global financial landscape has undergone significant transformation following the global financial crisis. here at home, the banking system has shown remarked resilience, the stock market performance has remained anemic, while mutual funds have continued to be attractive investment vehicles. the regulatory environment has also been undergoing major reform with the upgrading of legislation for various segments of the financial services industry. a new financial institutions bill was passed in december 2008 and new legislation covering the insurance industry, the credit union

/ www. imf. org / en / publications / weo / issues / 2022 / 10 / 11 / world - economic - outlook - october - 2022 and https : / / www. imf. org / en / publications / gfsr / issues / 2022 / 10 / 11 / global - financial - stability - reportoctober - 2022 see https : / / www. bundesbank. de / dynamic / action / de / statistiken / zeitreihen - datenbanken / zeitreihendatenbank / 723452 / 723452? tsid = bbdp1. m. de. y. apt1. g. gp09sa000000. i15. a & dateselect = 2022 seite 4 von 18 deutsche bundesbank, directorate general communications wilhelm - epstein - strasse 14, 60431 frankfurt am main, germany, tel. : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 33511, fax : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 33077 presse @ bundesbank. de, www. bundesbank. de reproduction permitted only if source is stated. these higher energy costs can only be redistributed domestically. enterprises and households therefore face a heavier financial burden, and credit risks will rise in the future. the higher nominal interest rates represent a further cost factor. by and large, rising interest income is good news for banks whose revenues are heavily reliant on maturity transformation. the flip side of this, though, is greater risk, because higher interest rates place an additional strain on borrowers. furthermore, higher interest rates have depressed securities prices – banks have been forced to recognise impairments and have already depleted almost all their unrealised reserves. chart 3 that said, expectations about future price developments are relevant for the incentives to carry on taking out debt. so far, nominal interest rates have risen more slowly than expected inflation. this means that real interest rates are still negative on average – and financing conditions are correspondingly favourable. seite 5 von 18 deutsche bundesbank, directorate general communications wilhelm - epstein - strasse 14, 60431 frankfurt am main, germany, tel. : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 33511, fax : + 49 ( 0 ) 69 9566 33077 presse @ bundesbank. de, www. bundesbank.