in mauritius. as regulators and supervisors we need to exercise discretion failing which the very purpose of the rules, guidelines and laws could be defeated. let me share with you a brief paragraph from sammuel brittan ’ s economics and ethics : “ most real - world situations are more complicated that the simple prisoner ’ s dilemma, and the possibility of choosing an inappropriate strategy is a real one. this possibility arises because the way in which strategies are normally determined is via the application of widely accepted rules - whether these are obviously moral, such as ‘ do not kill ’ ; conventional, such as ‘ drive on the left ’ ; or habitual, such as ‘ do not scatter litter ’. but many widely supported moral practices and rules are double - edged. frank cites a hypothetical jones who sacrifices a day ’ s earnings of $ 300 to prosecute smith for stealing a $ 200 briefcase. the motive here can only be described as vengeance. frank is inclined to regard jones as a social benefactor because his action discourages theft. may be. but encouraging vengeance as a general practice is playing with fire. ” regulators and supervisors or any other authorities should make productive use of the rules, guidelines and laws in the best interest of our financial sector. misuse of the rules, guidelines and laws by anyone of us could only jeopardize the achievement the authorities ’ objectives. the goal should be the promotion of the growth of our financial market without excessive constraint. let me wish all the participants in the seminar a pleasant working day. thank you.

much appreciated. i seize this opportunity to commend the fsap team, in particular mr abdessatar ouanes and mrs ann rennie, for having given a well - balanced assessment of our financial sector. the report does not merely refer to the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of our financial sector. it does also underline the strength of our financial sector and the progress that has been made in recent years with regard to our supervisory framework. i am particularly pleased to note, among the findings of the fsap mission, the following : 1. overall, the mauritian financial sector is currently in good health, and the short - term stability risks are modest. 2. mauritius has a relatively large and well - developed domestic financial system and a growing offshore sector. 3. the authorities have embarked on an ambitious program to transform the economy, and the government, in partnership with the private sector, is taking decisive measures to build a knowledge economy based on higher value - added services, notably in information and communication technologies. 4. the assessment of standards and codes found a high level of compliance with internationally accepted norms and best practices. 5. mauritius ’ strong economic performance has spurred the development of a large, profitable and sound banking sector. 6. the banking system of mauritius is profitable, well capitalised and generally sound. 7. the quality of banking supervision in mauritius has improved significantly over the past few years and is of a generally higher standard than in most african countries. 8. the bank of mauritius guidelines on corporate governance, internal control and credit are all of a commendable standard reflecting international best practices and the capacity of the bank of mauritius to enforce the guidelines has improved with the development of knowledge and skills within the supervision department. we expect that, on the basis of the fsap report, the financial stability forum will issue another press release announcing the removal of mauritius from the third category. our commitment to proceed with the various recommendations is already evidenced by the actions that have already been taken by the authorities in mauritius. we are thankful to the imf and the world bank for the prompt response given to our request for technical assistance to beef up our supervisory and legal framework. a few laws have, under the whip of the honourable minister for financial services, been enacted : the anti - money laundering ( miscellaneous provisions ) act to further strengthen our institutional and regulatory framework with respect to money laundering ; the convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism act which lays the basis for