. the banks and specialized deposit - taking institutions act seeks to address gaps and inconsistencies in the banking laws and also deepen cooperation with regional counterparts to improve the regulation and supervision of foreign banks that are active in the country. this is consistent with the vision of the government ’ s financial sector reform agenda which aims at among others : • making the financial sector of the country the preferred source of finance for domestic companies ; • promoting efficient savings mobilization ; • enhancing the competitiveness of the country ’ s financial institutions ; • ensuring a stronger and user - friendly regulatory regime ; as well as • achieving a deepened and a diversified domestic financial sector. the new bill will be complemented by a number of regulations and directives, to help enhance the environment for the conduct of banking. these include : • corporate governance regulations • licensing regulations • outsourcing directive bis central bankers ’ speeches • risk management directive • external auditors regulations • mergers and acquisitions directive • information technology standards ladies and gentlemen, with the passage of the ghana deposit protection bill, i am happy to inform you that the bank of ghana in collaboration with the german government will soon establish a deposit protection system in ghana for the first time in our history. this will ensure protection for small depositors and enhance the safety of the financial system. hopefully, this should lead to increased deposit mobilization for investment and growth. the implementation of the deposit protection scheme may however pose serious challenges to undercapitalized institutions as well as institutions that breach regulatory and prudential requirements. this is because such institutions would not qualify to participate in the scheme, and this could clearly impact on their ability to thrive. may i therefore seize this opportunity to advise all licensed institutions to ensure strict compliance with capital and other regulatory and prudential requirements at all times. distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. the bank of ghana has also commenced the process towards an effective implementation of basel ii in ghana. to this end, i will entreat banks to review their credit standards and capital needs in relation to their risk profile and appetite to ensure strict compliance. let me also take the opportunity to comment briefly on two key interventions that are currently ongoing in the industry. the first is about the recent asset quality review ( aqr ) of banks by the external auditors. the second has to do with the implementation of an electronic retail payment infrastructure to complement existing inter - bank payment and settlement systems. mr. chairman, to sustain the pace of progress in the financial sector and enhance the

challenge to our quest for an efficient and inclusive national payments system. in line with the payment system development objectives of the country, the bank of ghana has initiated a project to implement a mobile money payment system infrastructure to enable mobile money platforms become interoperable for seamless funds transfer from one mobile money service provider to another. subsequently, the new retail interoperable switch will be linked to the ghipss infrastructure to achieve national payment systems interoperability. in sum, the project seeks to ensure an overall integration of mobile payments platforms of the mobile money operators. it will also achieve integration with the clearing and settlement facilities consisting of the cheque codeline clearing with truncation, the automated clearing house, the ghana interbank settlement ( gis ) system - rtgs, the central securities depository and the gh - linktm. finally the project will ensure integration with participant banks, mobile money operators and existing front end processors. clearly, this project, when completed would provide enormous opportunities for banks, corporate entities, government and individuals, and also put ghana among the league of countries with developed payment system infrastructure. the stakeholder consultations have so far begun, and we look forward to an active engagement by the banking industry in this regard. conclusion in conclusion, mr. chairman, i want to take this opportunity to congratulate all the award winners and of course those who could not win any award. i wish you better luck next time. and to the organizers of the program, i wish you every success in your future endeavours. thank you for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches