is to improve transparency, simplicity and consistency so that investors can understand the risks associated with securitisations. for simple, transparent and consistent securitisations, we are prepared to review whether post - crisis regulatory requirements for investors and originators are too onerous. that includes solvency ii, where we welcome a recalibration of capital requirements for such simple, transparent and consistent securitisations, particularly at longer maturities. the bis central bankers ’ speeches ongoing participation of insurers – a major source of long - term finance – in this debate will be key to achieving results. we have got to a stage now where the path to solvency ii is clear. we have come a long way from the uncertainty that has seemingly dominated the past few years. but we need to remain conscious of the new challenges and opportunities that are on our horizon. alongside the european process the wheels have been turning in the international space. a common set of global standards for systemically important insurers are being worked on as we speak. throughout the development of these standards, the bank of england will continue with its strong history of international engagement. we have made great strides in europe with solvency ii and we aim to ensure the complementarity of upcoming global standards with what we have achieved with solvency ii. continued interaction with the industry is an essential part of good policy making so i ’ d like to again thank you for your participation today. i hope that we can continue to work together towards achieving a policy outcome at all levels that fulfils our objectives and in turn ensures the stability, resilience and ultimately the prosperity of the insurance sector in the uk. bis central bankers ’ speeches

marzunisham omar : statistical science for a better tomorrow welcoming remarks by mr marzunisham omar, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the international statistical institute regional statistics conference 2014 “ statistical science for a better tomorrow ”, kuala lumpur, 17 november 2014. * * * good morning, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. i am pleased to welcome you to this inaugural isi regional statistics conference 2014 on “ statistical science for a better tomorrow ”. bank negara malaysia is most honoured to jointly host this event, together with the international statistical institute and its south east asia regional network, the department of statistics malaysia, and the malaysia institute of statistics. today, we have more than 500 statistical researchers, practitioners, policymakers and users of statistics from around 40 countries. with such diversity of participants, i believe the conference provides an excellent platform for the participants to share insights on the application of statistical science for knowledge discovery, innovation and policy. the importance of statistics cannot be overstated. the formulation of decisions – by individuals, businesses and especially policymakers – is as good as the statistics collected and the capacity to interpret the data. while the need for accurate and reliable statistics is common across all fields of study, two other requirements for the compilation and analysis of economic and finance - related statistics can be considered to be rather unique. the first is timeliness, given the rapid pace in which economic and financial developments can change. for example, while policymakers were aware that trade activity had deteriorated during the height of the global financial crisis around october to november 2008, it was not until january 2009 that the extent in which global economic activity had fallen off the cliff was realised. indeed, as financial conditions are often vulnerable to sudden shifts in sentiments and herd behaviour, the window of opportunity to take decisive policy action is often very small – potentially, just a matter of hours during periods of crisis. this is where availability of statistics on a timely manner does make a difference. the second is the continuous re - evaluation of underlying relationships. beyond errors in reporting and limitations in aggregation, statistical estimates of economic variables are also subject to movements in relationships amongst variables across time ( the so called “ structural breaks ” ). as a consequence, in the words of former governor duvvuri subbarao of the reserve bank of india, “ the chance of being fooled by randomness is much higher in the assessment of economic events ”. why is this so? it is because,