jwala rambarran : trinidad and tobago strengthens information exchange address by mr jwala rambarran, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the trinidad and tobago securities & exchange commission and the central bank of trinidad and tobago, port of spain, 6 january 2014. * * * good morning ladies and gentlemen, economists typically have a penchant for numbers so i ’ ll start with a few : today is the 6th of the 1st month of 2014 and the 12th and last day of christmas 2013. so i hope the next 360 days of 2014 are productive and fulfilling for you, your families and our country. today is also a historic day. effective supervision of our financial system requires us as regulators to see both the forest and the trees. we need to improve our understanding of individual financial institutions ( the trees ) and their intricate connections to the forest ecosystem of financial markets and the macro - economy. today ’ s signing of this memorandum of understanding ( mou ) between the sec and the central bank is about advancing this process of better managing systemic risk. this is not about ego or territory ; it ’ s about ensuring the protection of every citizen who trusts their bank, securities firm, or financial institution with their money. this is why we are here and why this piece of paper matters. as regulators, we need to remember who are at the heart of the financial system. we need to remember it is real human hearts : a teacher with a loan, a market vendor with a savings account in a bank, a bus driver with an insurance policy, or a doubles vendor with an investment in a mutual fund. our duty to these market participants, who all rely on us, means that we must find common ground as fellow regulators, we must collaborate more systematically, and we must craft together a regulatory network that offers protection, consistency, and stability. i think this should answer the question, why this mou is important. ladies and gentlemen, i want to emphasize that the central bank and sec do have frequent contact with each other as regulators. the chairman of the sec and i often consult each other on matters of mutual regulatory concern. the central bank has a representative on the board of commissioners of the sec. our financial institutions supervision department speaks regularly to the sec ’ s enforcement personnel. from a legal perspective, however, when the paths of the central bank and the sec intersect in the conduct of our duties, as it often does, we are

niklaus blattner : the task of overseeing payment and securities settlement systems introductory remarks by mr niklaus blattner, vice - chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the end - of - year media news conference, zurich, 12 december 2003. * * * with the revised national bank law, the national bank receives an explicit mandate to contribute to the stability of the financial system. this is, in particular, laid down specifically in the law in the task of overseeing payment and securities settlement systems. why does the national bank oversee payment and securities settlement systems? by overseeing payment and securities settlement systems, the national bank is supporting the security and efficiency of financial market infrastructures in switzerland. in doing so, it is helping to ensure the stability of the financial system as a whole. this stability is essential to successful monetary policy in particular, and to the economic efficiency of switzerland in general. the importance of a market economy ’ s financial system derives from the function that it fulfils. the financial system is responsible for the allocation of financial resources and risks, as well as intermediation between savers and investors. a financial system can be described as stable if it performs these tasks efficiently and its markets and institutions prove themselves to be shock - resistant. another part of a stable financial system are secure financial market infrastructures. these include, specifically, payment systems and systems for the clearing and settlement of financial instruments ( securities settlement systems ). deficient payment and securities settlement systems might potentially trigger a crisis in the system. an operational or technical system failure can delay transaction settlement so severely - or even prevent it for such a long period - that widespread credit or liquidity problems among financial institutions result. in particularly serious cases, the financial institutions concerned, and perhaps even the financial markets, are no longer able to perform their role in the economy or can do so to only a limited extent. yet on the other hand, payment and securities settlement systems also play a major part in preventing the transfer of payment or delivery problems from one participant to the others. such difficulties might also trigger a chain reaction which could jeopardise the entire system. this makes the architecture of payment and securities settlement systems all the more important, because it determines their capacity to limit the transfer of weaknesses. secure and efficient financial market infrastructures are especially important to the swiss economy, which has a large financial sector and generates significant payment flows. their significance is illustrated by the relevant figures : every day, sums amounting