to allow canadians to have confidence in the country's financial system. on the financial stability side, we carry out a regular assessment of the risks in our financial system review. in december, our overall conclusion was that canada's financial, non - financial, and household sectors are in good shape. this assessment reflects favourable fundamentals – especially solid domestic and global growth, and the prudent financial behaviour of business. of course, there are always risks. in december, we mentioned the possible spillover effects of an abrupt slowdown in the u. s. economy, which may affect the financial health of customers of canadian banks, and a possible disorderly resolution of the large, global current account imbalances, but the canadian financial system appears to be in a good position to withstand such shocks, should they occur. on the efficiency side, our view, as expressed in the governor's december speech to the economic club of toronto, is that canada could be doing better in a number of areas, especially in the regulation of financial institutions, securities markets, and pension plans, and in the enforcement of laws governing securities markets. in carrying out our financial system work, can we do better? a sound and efficient financial system requires constant vigilance. we plan to maintain this vigilance, and to continue our research into financial system issues to help us promote stability and improved efficiency. specific goals for the next two or three years are : to develop a more formal framework to assess financial system stability ; to improve the collection and use of financial data ; and to enhance the ability of the financial system to continue operations in the face of serious disruptions. we also plan to have our financial system research and policy evaluated by an external party. the third and final responsibility i'd like to look at is the design and distribution of bank notes. bank notes bank notes are the most tangible part of a central bank's work. everyone uses paper money. i should point out something that might surprise some of you here in the " technology triangle " – despite the many alternatives to cash, the demand for cash continues to grow, roughly in line with nominal gdp growth. the main objective of our bank note work is to provide canadians with paper money that can be trusted – money we can use with ( here's that word again ) confidence. of course, bank notes should also be beautiful, durable, and easy to handle, but if they can't be used with confidence, either because of

which consists of market participants, experts and regulators. we have also had the benefit of an array of expert views, including those of the ministry of finance which were indeed valuable in giving final contours to the framework. the operational aspects were commendably dealt with by the rbi - sebi standing technical committee and i must highlight the exemplary inter - regulatory coordinative approach that has been the hallmark of the entire process. a similar approach is now being adopted in respect of interest rate futures as well and we may see a fruition of efforts in this regard in a short time. in this regard, i express deep appreciation of the contribution made by sebi, and in particularly the chairman, in bringing this to fruition. i congratulate nse for putting in place the platform in a short time and ensuring a sizeable number of members at the initial start itself. i believe the currency futures market will seamlessly complement the existing otc market. as you may be aware, in all countries, including developed markets, otc segment dominates foreign exchange transactions. the introduction of currency futures, i am sure, will provide further depth and breadth to the market and fulfill their intended objective as an effective risk management instrument. i would also like to take this opportunity to urge all the market participants to leverage this significant milestone for skill development within as well as at a broader industry level. on behalf of rbi, i would like to assure our continued commitment to orderly and well thought out development of financial markets, while maintaining financial stability and integrity.