benjamin e diokno : opening remarks during the signing of the establishment of a supervisory college for financial conglomerate supervision opening remarks by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), during the signing of the multilateral mou on establishment of supervisory college for financial conglomerate supervision, manila, 24 january 2022. * * * good morning. it is my pleasure to welcome our financial sector forum principals, emilio aquino, chairman of the securities and exchange commission ; dennis funa, commissioner of the insurance commission ; and sandra diaz, senior vice president of the philippine deposit insurance corporation to witness another momentous event for the forum. in line with the principles for the supervision of financial conglomerates of the basel committee on banking supervision, the financial sector forum created the financial conglomerate supervision committee which is tasked to work towards identifying conglomerate risks in the financial system ; and to plan ahead supervisory initiatives to mitigate conglomerate risks. the basel principles highlight, among others, the need for a clear legal framework that provides supervisors with the necessary powers, authority and resources to perform, with independence and in coordination with other supervisors, comprehensive group - wide supervision. the principles re - affirm the importance of supervisory cooperation, coordination and information exchange. in the 2020 financial sector assessment program technical note on supervision and regulation of financial conglomerates, the international monetary fund recommended the implementation of a multilateral agreement among financial sector forum member agencies on the establishment of supervisory college to agree on the approach of group level risk assessment for financial conglomerates. the establishment of a supervisory college is an important regulatory platform in achieving effective and efficient supervision of financial conglomerates. it is also an international practice amongst international financial supervisory authorities. thus, this memorandum of understanding shall govern the establishment of an inter - agency cross - sectoral supervisory college which shall serve as the forum, to facilitate cooperation and coordination between and among the financial sector forum member agencies specifically, for the supervision of financial conglomerates in the philippines. this supports a clear process for coordinating various roles and responsibilities of the financial sector forum with clearly delineated responsibilities for effective supervision. as such, we would like to re - affirm the spirit of collaboration by signing the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of supervisory college for financial conglomerate supervision. finally, let me share a quote from the american industrialist and business magnate, henry ford. he said that a€œcoming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working

some cyber attacks but does not go without costs. finally, cyber - security is also a global issue : for a more effective response, it is necessary to establish cooperation at an international level and across sectors, well beyond the financial sector. in that perspective, initiatives from the financial stability oversight council ( fsoc ) in the us to improve cooperation between sectors, particularly those dependent on the financial sector, such as the utilities or telecommunications sectors, or the establishment of european network and information security agency are much welcomed. ii. against that background, understanding the threats, organizing protection and prevention as well as the coordination of the private and public actions are prerequisites for effectively fighting cybercrime. the aim of today ’ s seminar is to reflect collectively on this and to share experience. the first important step is to understand why the financial sector is a popular target of hacker attacks. that ’ s one of the objectives of the first panel of distinguished speakers. they will attempt to answer such questions as : what are the factors making the financial sector a privileged target for cybercrime? how to identify and quantify cyber - attacks? what impacts of cyber - criminality on financial stability? there is one question we must pay particular attention to : the virtual currencies. recent operations against financial criminality have evidenced that new payment methods using the internet, and linking the virtual sphere with the real sphere, are a privileged way for cyber criminals to launder money. virtual currencies have indeed recently drawn attention from authorities and from central banks in particular. designed as alternatives to official currencies but with no guarantee of reimbursement, they cannot be classified as currencies because they lack legal tender and therefore do not infringe the central banks ’ monopoly in the issuance of money. however, although they currently do not pose a significant threat to financial stability, they do pose serious questions in terms of money laundering and can be perceived as vehicles for speculative investments. virtual currencies therefore bring challenges to authorities when it comes to regulating them. our speakers on the virtual currencies topic could address such questions as : should the use of virtual currencies be prohibited to protect us from cybercrime and the expansion of money laundering or bis central bankers ’ speeches terrorism? or is it better to set out the legal, regulatory and ethical issues of the virtual currencies? a round table dealing with financial sector solutions to curb new cybercriminals ’ strategies will follow. to