– pillar 3 : enabling healthy financial sector evolution – pillar 4 : ensuring the financial sector contributes to the real economy. in many areas, cbn needs to take the lead in implementing reforms ; in other areas, cbn needs to play a key advocacy role. 3. 2 enhancing the quality of banks let me begin with the first pillar – enhancing the quality of banks. the cbn will initiate a 5 part programme to enhance the operations and quality of banks in nigeria. the programme will consist of industry remedial programmes to fix the key causes of the crisis. it will also include implementation of risk based supervision, reforms to regulations and regulatory framework, enhanced provisions for consumer protection, and internal transformation of the cbn. in the first part, the industry remedial programmes will include a set of initiatives to fix the key causes of the crisis, namely data quality, enforcement, governance, risk management and financial crime. these initiatives will be structured in such a manner that the banks do most of the work to embed new behaviours in the industry, with the cbn playing a crossindustry programme management role. a key plank of this programme is that we must hold individuals responsible for their actions, we must pursue all criminal cases to their logical conclusion and we must ensure that nobody, no matter how highly placed, is permitted to benefit from the fruits of crime. this is our commitment and we intend to stand by it no matter how long it takes and no matter whose ox is gored. in order to address failures of corporate governance in the industry, the cbn will establish a specialist function focusing on governance issues to ensure governance best practices are embedded in the industry. the reform programme will strengthen corporate governance in both banks and the cbn, embedding a culture across the industry that good governance is good business. a remedial programme will be launched to implement and monitor a new set of corporate governance guidelines incorporating a range of reforms. the reform measures will include updated corporate governance statements prepared by the banks and establishment of mandatory board committees and a definition of their responsibilities. reform measures will also include education of board directors on their responsibilities and on the unethical and allegedly fraudulent activities and the penalties they carry. amnesty period for full disclosure of ownership and related party transactions by board directors will be introduced. an extended fit and proper test will be developed to include an assessment of qualifications and face - to - face interviews. this will include a retrospective review of individuals admitted to a board in the last 10 years. an enhanced annual

of payments and the international investment position through the conduct of surveys of the global business licence holders. the bank has enlisted the collaboration of the financial services commission, our sister regulator, in this exercise. ( click here for further details on general data dissemination system and special data dissemination standard ) ombudsperson for banks i am confident that in 2009, the bank will proceed with the appointment of an ombudsperson for banks. as i have said on many occasions, for a small country of our size and the expected workload, a single ombudsperson for the entire financial services sector would have been more appropriate so that the customer does not face jurisdictional issues. financial literacy and outreach programme we started a financial literacy and outreach programme when the bank commemorated its 40 years in 2007. in 2008, talks were delivered by eminent financial sector personalities, including central bank governors. dr guy quaden, the governor of the national bank of belgium, spoke on “ the first ten years of the euro. achievements. challenges. lessons for other parts of the world ”. we also recently had a lecture on “ applicability of international financial reporting standards to central banks ” by mr ian ingram, director of internal finance from the european central bank. the bank also organised programmes in local languages on the local radio / television. the bank intends to make such programmes a regular feature. i thought i should mention here that the bank does not have a specialised unit to take care of communications, events and functions. all events hosted by the bank are co - ordinated by the governor ’ s office and organised by staff who volunteer for the assignment. meetings attended by the management the governor and the bank ’ s two deputy governors, the chief economist and the head of corporate services attended a wide range of international meetings and seminars in 2008, as part of the remit of the bank for furthering international contact and for keeping abreast of international developments with a view to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of our services. ( click here for further details on participation in international meetings and seminars ) very sadly, 2008 witnessed the tragic loss of one of mauritius ’ most reputed bankers, mr anil guness, who died in the terrorist attacks in the taj hotel in mumbai in november 2008 in the same week in which he last came to the bank to attend our banking committee meeting. we shall miss his wise counsel and the sound judgments he brought to the work of the state bank and within the banking sector in mauritius and beyond.