received the endorsement of the group of caricom central bank governors. these include : • the need to have cross jurisdictional consistency in regulatory reporting and definitions, inclusive of the definitions of what constitutes “ capital base ” and “ acceptable group structures ”, in order to avoid regulatory arbitrage. • the need for regulators to have the ability to prescribe in legislation, the accounting treatment to be used for reporting to the regulator for prudential purposes ( especially in instances where conventional accounting treatment or ifrs standards are at variance or inconsistent with more stringent prudential standards promoted for deposit taking entities ). • the need to ensure that the approach taken in amending legislation to conduct consolidated supervision, is consistent with the revised basel core principles. • the need to further enhance the relationship between the regulator and the external auditors if risk based supervision is to be conducted efficiently, since regulators must be able to place reliance on the work of the external auditors. • and finally, the need for the development of legislation to address the entry protocols and scope of foreign regulators who wish to perform on - site examinations in member jurisdictions. while the region remains fully committed to applying international best practice standards within respective supervisory frameworks, and is working collaboratively in this regard, the group however, remains concerned that : • small, emerging economies with inchoate / nascent financial markets such as ours, are expected to implement the same international standards developed within the context of, and for application in, large developed economies with sophisticated and highly developed financial systems ; • multilateral agencies ( such as the imf and world bank under their financial sector stability assessment programmes ( fsaps ), assess the region ’ s financial system framework and infrastructure on the basis of the standards designed for more developed markets, and these assessments inform international opinion on our financial systems and supervisory framework, with significant implications for foreign investment ; • furthermore, while the best practice standards are established in the core principles by the basel committee, there is not always the requisite technical guidance needed to interpret the application of the standards. i make specific reference here to the principles that address consolidated supervision of a banking group where a banking group is defined as the bank and its offices, subsidiaries, affiliates and joint ventures, both domestic and foreign. where i believe further guidance is needed, is in case of group structures such as several in our caribbean region, that do not fit the classical banking group structure – where for example, the bank is neither parent nor the dominant or

customer due diligence procedures issued by the basel committee on banking supervision. the financial services commission, which has responsibility for non - deposit - taking financial institutions such as insurance companies, securities dealers, unit trusts and mutual funds, has also recently issued similar guidelines. the bank of jamaica actively participates in national efforts to ensure that jamaican financial intermediaries are not being used as conduits for the funding of terrorist groups. the central bank chairs a financial crimes task force that has been charged with the responsibility of making proposals for relevant amendments and / or enactment of legislation covering all facets of financial crime, inclusive of money laundering, terrorism financing, and related issues. these efforts have culminated in the legislative amendments that were referred to earlier. in closing, let me stress the importance of the collaborative efforts of the relevant authorities within jurisdictions, regionally and internationally, in ensuring the effectiveness and success of the aml / cft measures. the effectiveness and success of these measures depend critically on this collaboration. i therefore trust that the combined efforts of all our caribbean colleagues will restrict those who seek to exploit our financial systems and corrupt our economies and societies for their own selfish gains. i believe that over the next five days the sessions will serve to strengthen the capacity of our examiners and facilitate the application of the new 2004 imf / world bank assessment methodology as the basis for future anti - money laundering / combating of financing terrorism ( aml / cft ) assessment exercises. in the meantime, i wish to thank the caribbean financial action task force, the international monetary fund and the world bank, for the timely scheduling of this workshop. i hope that you will all have a very productive week, as you learn how to implement the imf 2004 assessment methodology and draw on the wealth of knowledge of the presenters and the experience of your fellow participants. to all our overseas visitors, i hope that you will find some time to make it jamaica again in the near future, when you can relax and explore our beautiful island. thank you.