fiji have continuously upgraded their core systems, costing millions of dollars, to enhance how they do business and improve services to their customers. competition has been strong. ladies and gentlemen, because of the important service that commercial banks provide, it is vital that we ensure that they continue to operate soundly and safely. the soundness and safety responsibility is at the core of the reserve bank ’ s financial stability mandate. banks are to ensure at all times that they are well capitalised and earning adequate profits to sustain their operations. banking business is a business of managing risks, and it is important that commercial banks have robust frameworks to identify and mitigate the risks inherent in their operations. market conduct and consumer protection have also come to the fore of banking in recent years. commercial banks in fiji are continuously reviewing their processes to ensure that these issues are managed effectively. the reserve bank of fiji expects all banks to prioritise customer complaints and ensure the efficient and effective resolution of these at all times. the banking sector, in the coming months, will embark on further improving its payments infrastructure by participating in the fiji interchange network payment system, or what has often been referred to as a national switch. having a central national switch will further allow the efficient provision of payment services and in due time provide cost savings for banking customers. closing in closing, i would like to again congratulate hfc bank on achieving 3 years of commercial banking, but also hfc as a financial institution for having served the people of fiji for the last 55 years. as the institution ’ s regulator, it would be remiss of me if i do not remind the hfc board and management of the importance of the task they have ahead of them, which includes their duty to serve the public interest by ensuring a good governance environment and a strong risk management culture. we wish hfc bank the very best for the future, and look forward to the many years of great service that they will provide for all fijians. vinaka vakalevu! end.

##rman shanmugaratnam, as ibf chairman from 1997 to 2001, fundamentally repositioned ibf, from being a direct provider of training to becoming a national accreditation and standard - setting body for financial sector training. • mr koh yong guan, who followed as ibf chairman from 2001 to 2005, built on this strategic repositioning with the introduction of the now - familiar financial industry competency standards or fics. • mr heng swee keat, ibf chairman from 2005 to 2011, launched an impressive set of 53 standards under the fics and secured a range of accredited training providers offering quality training and assessments benchmarked against the fics. bis central bankers ’ speeches the pioneers of ibf comprise not only its past chairmen but the many captains of industry who served on ibf councils over the last 40 years. they provided practical industry insights which helped make ibf ’ s programmes relevant and meaningful. i would like to acknowledge in particular a few recent council members who have shaped much of the work that culminated in this evening ’ s presentation. • mrs euleen goh, as the first chair of the fics steering committee, marshalled an impressive army of industry contributors to put together our first set of fics standards in 2005. • mr wee ee cheong, current ibf vice chairman and chairman of the fics steering committee, worked hard to drive the adoption of fics and led the review of the fics which will be re - launched later this evening as the ibf standards. we also salute this evening the hundreds of industry practitioners who stepped forward in ways big and small over the last 40 years to help raise standards and build competencies. • you have served on ibf workgroups, reviewing consultation papers on competency standards or industry examinations or frameworks for continuous development. • you have volunteered as speakers, trainers and mentors, acting as industry ambassadors at ibf ’ s outreach programmes. you gave your time freely and shared your ideas selflessly. thank you. we are also indebted to our partners and trainers who have contributed on a pro - bono basis to ibf ’ s learning resources – working on impossible timelines to deliver high - quality training standards and study guide materials. there is a final group that i want to acknowledge, the unsung heroes of the ibf story – the past and present staff of ibf. • from administering the cmfas examinations to developing new industry examinations ; • from