##checked use of the financial system by criminal organisations risks undermining individual institutions and ultimately entire financial systems. when banks or financial institutions become part of a criminal network, they lay themselves open to loss from fraud if they do not screen out undesirable customers or if their own officers are compromised. in the face of the above economic, financial and political threats, the international financial community has recognised that public confidence in such institutions, and hence their stability, could be undermined if they became associated, even inadvertently, with criminals. in order to prevent the escalation of money laundering, the following measures have been undertaken : i. the government has enacted the prohibition and prevention of money laundering ( ppml ) act 2001 which has criminalized money laundering and provides for the forfeiture of property by offenders ; ii. boz has issued directives to all regulated financial institutions on combating money laundering to ensure that the potential threats posed by money launderers are limited ; and iii. boz has also developed a supervisory framework aimed at conducting targeted inspections to ensure banks and nbfis are complying with the anti - money laundering legislation and directives. 5. 3 improvement of credit culture in order to improve the credit culture in the country, the boz issued the credit data ( privacy ) code and the credit reference services ( licensing ) guidelines to facilitate the establishment of credit reference bureaux ( crbs ). the guidelines were gazetted on 30 january 2006. subsequently, the first credit bureau, namely, credit reference bureau africa limited ( crbal ) was licensed on june 5, 2006 and was launched on january 11, 2007. the main task of a crb is to provide lenders with factual information upon which they can base their lending decision. while crbs facilitate sharing of information without approving or disapproving credit, or collecting debts they also assist consumers understand the responsible use of credit and help lenders in identifying good payers from defaulters. once fully operational the credit bureau will : i. allow for increase in credit extension because of better risk profiles ; ii. reduce credit processing costs and times as well as loan write - offs ; iii. lower borrowing costs ; and iv. enhance the credit culture, which in turn will allow for the provision of the much needed finance for the development of various sectors. 5. 4 cost of banking services • it has been observed that the zambian banking industry has one of the highest operating costs when compared to other countries in sub

the transformation of the bh banking sector that i have refereed to. raiffeisen opened in sarajevo just last july, only nine months ago. they have since opened a branch in banja luka and are in the process of opening more branches in the rs, in brcko and in many other towns in the federation. today, they are taking a big step into herzegovina by buying hrvatska postanska bank. they have very quickly become a bank that is operating over the whole territory of bh as well as in most of the neighboring countries. i congratulate them on the major role they are playing in transforming and strengthening the banking sector in bh and wish them every success with their new partner.