. – we have also embarked on a project to modernise and streamline the auction process. the on - line auctioning system which is being run on a pilot basis is expected to go live this year, while the review of the primary dealers system is on course. financial stability let us rewind a little in time : an economic crisis surfaces, a financial institution – little - known beyond financial circles – fails, triggering a string of counterparty defaults across financial systems. the shock ripples across oceans and rapidly spreads globally. the contagion spreads at epidemic rates, threatening market functioning and financial stability – and the blame game begins. it was perhaps inevitable that central banks and regulators would be blamed after the crisis for having had a narrow and segmented vision of their mandate. – financial stability moved centre stage for central banks and became the main item on the agenda at governors ’ meetings. – at the bank, we embraced this new role well before it became fashionable. i set up a financial stability unit at the bank three years ago to identify vulnerabilities and risks in the system and develop tools and policies to incorporate financial stability in our policy framework. we introduced semi - annual financial stability reports. – the domestic economic landscape is characterised by concentration of economic power, with a web of companies and local conglomerates operating across different sectors, and relatively large complex financial institutions. these raise a host of payments system we modernised our payments infrastructure by switching to new - generation software for the mauritius automated clearing and settlement system. – real - time interbank payments can be made in three major foreign currencies, the us dollar, the pound sterling and the euro, in addition to the mauritian rupee – a premiere in africa. – central banks in the region are avid for placements and visits to study our payments and settlement system. the bank thus hosted delegations from the central banks of kenya, rwanda, uganda, ethiopia, seychelles and nigeria during the year. mauritius credit information bureau we have extended the coverage of the mauritius credit information bureau to have a complete picture of the problem of multi - borrowing and over - indebtedness in the country. memorandum of understanding we extended our network of memoranda of understanding with other institutions, namely with the financial intelligence unit and the mauritius revenue authority, in an effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and fiscal evasion. by the end of the review period, we were at an advanced stage of discussion with the competition commission of mauritius.

to comment on the past year and to highlight future areas of concern for the regulator. the function, which was the first black - tie event ever organised by the bank, turned out to be a runaway success. as part of our open and transparent communication strategy, i accepted invitations to speak from various institutions, at home and abroad. i began the year with a keynote address at the future of financial markets forum in mumbai in january. i continued with an address at the said business school at the university of oxford in february. i delivered a dozen addresses to share my views on a wide range of topics, from economic analysis and supervisory matters to payment system infrastructure and corporate governance, on mauritius and on africa. there were two common threads in my addresses : overseas, the main thrust was to present mauritius as an avant - garde banking and financial centre at the cutting edge of monetary policy - making and banking / financial regulation ; locally, i highlighted the need to deliver on our core mandate. i did not elude the burning issue of exchange rate management when invited to speak at a round table on the exchange rate organised by the mauritius exports association. it was the opportunity for me to underline the essential fact that our much - maligned monetary policy / exchange rate strategy has delivered the goods for the nation as a whole and done it in a more sustainable manner than the previous infernal spiral which banked on continued depreciation … which fuelled inflation … which sparked wage demands … which stoked up inflationary pressure … which necessitated further depreciation etc. ( more on this issue ) corporate social responsibility since i joined the bank, i have integrated corporate social responsibility as a key element of the bank ’ s outreach to the wider mauritian community to project a less technocratic and austere image. the bank of mauritius inter - club youth championships – now a regular feature in the bank ’ s calendar of activities – were held for the fifth consecutive year on 24 – 25 september 2011. this fifth edition was co - sponsored by 14 commercial banks − namely abc banking corporation, bank of baroda, bank one, bank international indonesia, barclays bank, bramer banking corporation, deutsche bank, hong kong and shanghai banking corporation, investec bank, mauritius post and cooperative bank, sbi ( mauritius ), standard bank, standard chartered bank and state bank of mauritius. around 725 athletes from 25 clubs participated, including the 15 best athletes selected from 400 rodriguans who participated in the inter -