to be “ rotten apples ” would force all others to pay a higher price for access to resources, even if the broad majority behave in a proper manner. in a developing country like south africa, reluctance to lend, or demand for an elevated risk premium, for fear of fraudulent or information - withholding behaviour, can easily limit the ability of the general public to access credit and, in turn, impede the path to a more balanced and inclusive economic growth framework. yet the developments of recent years illustrate the challenges that the industry is facing. the libor scandal of 2012, when several banks were found guilty of colluding to misprice benchmark rates, illustrates the potential ramifications of unethical behaviour in one segment of the market. libor is an inter - bank rate, but its role as a benchmark in the pricing of financial derivatives and corporate sector loans means it affects a far broader range of transactions than simply money market ones. yet the manipulation of libor was only one example of improper practices. while several global banks were fined for their involvement in the manipulation of the libor and euribor reference rates, others ended up paying hefty fines bis central bankers ’ speeches for infringements as diverse as inadequate underwriting and improper sales practices in the sub - prime mortgage market, material non - disclosure, illegal involvement with counterparties under us sanctions, or illegal credit card practices. since 2010, two large us banking groups alone ended up paying total fines of us $ 52 billion and us $ 36 billion, respectively, while a european banking group paid fines of as much as us $ 9 billion. the fines imposed on global banks since 2010 have been the most severe ever applied by us authorities. closer to the interests of a professional body like the aci, the last couple of years have seen the uncovering of several cases of foreign exchange market manipulation, resulting in the dismissal of employees and in criminal prosecutions – potentially larger consequences for the guilty parties than in incidences of interest rate manipulation. the high publicity surrounding these cases has not been without negative impact on the financial industry ’ s reputation with the general public ; and it is of concern that surveys of public trust in business and institutions, like the 2014 edelman global trust survey, continue to place banks as the least trusted of the major business sectors. reasons for the drift and corrective measures put in place a lot has been written about the reasons for this apparent “ drift ”, over the past decade or so in

benjamin e diokno : one team, one goal - resilient partnership towards inclusive economic growth speech by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the 2019 awards ceremony and appreciation dinner for bsp stakeholders in region iii, subic, zambales, 13 september 2019. * * * good afternoon, everyone. it is with great pleasure that i welcome all of you to the 2019 awards ceremony and appreciation dinner for bsp stakeholders in region iii. i am pleased that the bsp has been recognizing the invaluable contributions of its partners in central banking for the past 16 years now. the growth in the number and scope of awards given reflects the dynamic support and cooperation you have extended to the bsp ’ s various initiatives and advocacies, which are all geared toward improving the life of every filipino. i cannot overemphasize the value of your support as the bsp continues to navigate the country ’ s economic landscape. by working as one team, we have entered this year from a position of strength and with renewed optimism. based on the country ’ s economic performance, the gross domestic product ( gdp ) grew by 6. 2 percent year - on - year in 2018 and remained firm at 5. 5 percent in the first semester of 2019. on the production side, economic growth was propelled mainly by the robust performance of the services sectors. broad - based expansion in household consumption and government spending reinforced growth on the demand side. meanwhile, january to august 2019 inflation readings have averaged 3. 0 percent, well within the announced target range of 2 to 4 percent of the national government. last august, inflation slowed down to 1. 7 percent. the external position of the philippines is reflective of an economy driven by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and firm growth prospects. the country ’ s balance of payments ( bop ) position for the first seven months of the year posted a surplus of us $ 5 billion, a turnaround from the us $ 3. 7 billion bop deficit recorded in the same period last year. the surplus may be attributed partly to remittance inflows from overseas filipinos during the first six months of the year, and net inflows of foreign direct investments during the first five months of the year. sustained inflows of foreign exchange are expected to continue to support the peso. in the first six months of the year, net