emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile : fostering a strong financial sector in uganda speech by mr emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile, governor of the bank of uganda, at the official launch of finance trust bank ltd., kampala, 17 january 2014. * * * your excellency, the president of the republic of uganda honourable ministers honourable members of parliament the board of directors, finance trust bank the managing director and staff of finance trust bank distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen i am honoured to be here this evening for the launch of finance trust bank. i would like to begin by congratulating the shareholders, the board of directors, the management and staff of finance trust bank who have all worked tirelessly to bring about the conversion of the institution from a tier 3 microfinance deposit - taking institution to a commercial bank. this latest entry to the commercial banking industry in uganda has its origins in the uganda women ’ s finance trust that had been started in 1984 with the objective of providing financial services to low income people in uganda, especially women. it has thus been providing financial services to ugandans for 30 years. in particular, it has provided services to low and medium income segments of the population with a specific focus on women and the youth, offering a wide range of services like savings and loans, bill payments and money transfer services. the history of this institution demonstrates that it is committed to contributing to one of the nation ’ s strategic development priorities ; that of promoting inclusive growth. at the time of becoming a commercial bank in november last year, finance trust had a capital base of ugx 28 billion, it had ugx 43 billion in customer deposits, and ugx 59 billion in loans. the bank has a network of thirty one branches and six automated teller machines across the country. the transformation to a commercial bank will enable finance trust bank to widen its customer base. the bank ’ s capital base has increased and business volumes are expected to follow suit. however, the introduction of new products and the expansion of the bank ’ s portfolio require diligent board and senior management oversight to ensure that the risks which will attend this expansion are managed prudently. your excellency, the bank of uganda is committed to fostering a strong and vibrant financial sector which can contribute to the economic growth of the country while maintaining the safety of depositors ’ funds. the bou is also committed to maintaining macroeconomic stability which is the essential bedrock of a vibrant economy

total market capitalization of reits is close to s $ 12 billion, making singapore the second largest reit market in asia, after japan. singapore is now a preferred location for property owners to structure their reits. to further strengthen our regulatory framework for reits, so that this market segment can maintain its high reputation and grow in a sustained way, we have recently embarked on a consultation exercise to review the property fund guidelines governing reits. we expect to announce the results of our review soon, which will provide greater clarity on how we will be strengthening the reits regime to promote better governance of reits and further facilitate the growth of the industry. as market players, siba members understand commercial realities and market practices well. siba therefore plays a very important role in complementing mas to ensure that high standards and best practices are upheld in the market. i am therefore very glad that siba has taken this role seriously. in aug 2004, siba released the due diligence guidelines, which set out the basic principles on due diligence to be performed by issuer managers for initial public offerings. the guidelines raise the professional standards of issue managers, and help maintain investors'confidence in the quality of the issue. mas endorses these guidelines as a valuable guide to issue managers and underwriters on the level of due diligence expected of them as professional advisers and in meeting their obligations under the securities and futures act and sgx listing manual. mas appreciates that siba is now currently working to release a code of best practices on debt issuance. this code will serve as guidance on debt issuance. i believe this will enable issue managers to discharge their mandates better, and to address potential concerns of investors. such a code will be beneficial to issuers and issue managers, as well as to investors. developing deep expertise the second key factor in developing our market is expertise. investment banking is a knowledge - intensive, innovation - driven industry. a deep pool of highly trained and committed professionals is critical to enable the industry to thrive. the nurturing of these professionals should start from academic education, where knowledge and theories of investment banking could be imparted. this provides the foundation, to allow professionals to deepen knowledge and skills through on - the - job training and professional upgrading courses that focus on commercial issues and execution skills. with the experience and expertise among its members, siba is well - positioned to spearhead efforts to develop the pool of investment banking professionals in singapore