entities. the fatf considers that if implemented effectively and with respect to applicable human rights provisions by countries and the private sector, targeted financial sanctions are an important means to deprive terrorist and proliferation financiers of their funds, thereby protecting citizens from the threats of crime, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. in order to be effective, however, these measures also have to be implemented and enforced in practice. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches as an international financial centre, mauritius is committed to protecting its financial services sector from abuse. as a member of the united nations, mauritius has given effect to the sanctions regime under the un security council resolutions as well as the fatf recommendations 6 and 7 though the enactment, in may 2019, of the united nations ( financial prohibitions, arms embargo and travel ban ) sanctions act 2019 – the un sanctions act as it is more commonly referred to. the un sanctions act imposes a number of obligations on financial institutions, namely – prohibition against dealing with funds and other assets ( asset freeze ) of a designated or listed party ; prohibition against making funds and other assets ( and financial services ) available to, or for the benefit of listed parties ; reporting obligations and reporting of suspicious information, amongst others. the un sanctions act further requires financial institutions to implement internal controls and other procedures to enable a financial institution to effectively comply with the un sanctions act. it is therefore imperative for financial institutions to have adequate policies and procedures, systems and controls in place to enable the financial institutions to, amongst others, – identify the existing accounts, transactions, funds or other assets of designated persons and entities ; immediately freeze any identified funds or other assets held or controlled by designated persons and entities and prevent designated persons and entities from conducting transactions with, in or through them. as the central bank of the country and the aml / cft regulator for the banking sector, the bank of mauritius must safeguard not only the financial stability and soundness but also the integrity of the banking sector. non - compliance with the aml / cft obligations, including the targeted financial sanctions, will therefore, be severely dealt with by the bank. on those notes, allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to leave the floor to our panel of distinguished speakers who will guide you on the implementation of these obligations. i thank you for your kind attention and wish you a fruitful workshop. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

is vast and fixing it is enormously time consuming. as this audience knows, banking systems and financial services rely heavily on computer systems to manage and deliver services electronically. with the linkage of payment systems globally, a failure of any linked system could have waterfall effects to other systems and a disastrous result to the world economy. the scope of the millennium bug extends far beyond financial services and beyond the traditional notion of large mainframe processing systems. computer systems that control telecommunications, electric utilities, transportation services, and a host of other critical infrastructure systems are vulnerable. the gartner group estimates 50 million embedded - system devices worldwide will exhibit year 2000 problems. embedded chips are used to control elevators, environmental systems, navigational devices, household appliances, safes and vaults, and on and on. the pervasive reliance on computer systems is not constrained to large industrialized countries ; developing countries are also vulnerable, particularly those with older computer systems and software. i think that some “ what ifs ” cited by the computer information centre in the uk brings a practical perspective of the effect of what could happen in our everyday life as the millennium arrives. • the computers in financial services organizations, etc. cannot deliver payments to counter parties, or receive funds from them. gridlock ensues. there ’ s a collapse in financial markets because of the bad news coming from companies about their inability to trade normally. • the power fails, and it is mid - winter in the northern hemisphere and mid - summer in the southern hemisphere. the power company ’ s production is controlled by innumerable computer chips, which were installed many years ago and no one knows what they do, how they work, nor dare they touch them, because the whole of the plant might come irreparably to a standstill. more personal possibilities : • the telephone system fails - - and you ’ re unable to notify anyone of your pyramiding problems. • your medical center ’ s computer has problems and cannot trace the medicines your elderly mother has been prescribed in the past nor the conditions she has had. a doctor prescribes the wrong medicine and she becomes very ill. • you try to draw money from an atm and it refuses, even though you know you have money in your account. your bank ’ s computer thinks it is january 1, 1900 - - and you weren ’ t a customer then! as i said, fixing the year 2000 bug is not technically difficult but it is an enormous task that will be frightfully