mr. carse reviews the progress being made towards global regulation address by mr. david t. b. carse, a deputy chief executive of the hong kong monetary aurthority, at the bankers ’ association for foreign trade 75th anniversary annual meeting held in florida on 6 / 5 / 97. i am pleased to be here this morning to talk to you about the hong kong perspective on the trends in global regulation. i have been asked particularly to talk about our experience of being a host supervisor - in other words, what it is like to be on the receiving end of consolidated supervision. this is quite appropriate because, although the hong kong monetary authority is the home supervisor for a number of local banks with overseas operations, the distinguishing characteristic of hong kong is that it is the host to almost 500 banks from over 40 different countries. this is in keeping with its role as one of the leading international financial centres in the world with the third largest representation of foreign banks and the fifth largest total of external assets. hong kong after 1997 of course, hong kong ’ s other distinguishing characteristic is that it will experience a reversion of sovereignty to china in less than two months ’ time. this has naturally aroused much interest and speculation among the foreign banks based in hong kong about the legal and regulatory environment which will apply after the handover on 30 june, and i will therefore try to explain to you briefly the main features of the arrangements that will apply. these arrangements are laid down in the basic law which establishes the post - 1997 constitution for hong kong. it is based on the “ one country, two systems ” concept under which hong kong shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region of china. in the banking and monetary areas, this means that : hong kong shall retain the status of an international financial centre. the government of hong kong shall be responsible for monetary policy and practice in hong kong and for regulation of financial markets and institutions. there shall be free flow of capital within, into and out of hong kong. the hk dollar, as the local legal tender, shall continue to circulate and remain freely convertible. it must be backed by a 100 % reserve fund. the exchange fund which holds the foreign currency reserves of hong kong shall be managed and controlled by the government of hong kong, primarily for regulating the exchange value of the hk dollar. the framework that will apply after 1997 is therefore quite clear. the question which then follows is whether the framework will be applied in practice. i

tarisa watanagase : the changing financial environment and implications for central banks welcome address by dr tarisa watanagase, governor of the bank of thailand, at the 27th seanza governors ’ symposium, bangkok, 20 september 2008. * * * fellow governors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to extend a warm welcome to all seanza governors and distinguished participants to the 27th governors ’ symposium and the central banking course. at the outset, i would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to mr. jaime caruana, the former governor of the bank of spain, and currently the counsellor and director of the monetary and capital markets department of the imf, who flew half way around the world to be with us today to share his views and enrich us with his experiences from a global perspective. this year ’ s theme of the governors ’ symposium is “ the changing financial environment and implications for central banks ”. i believe you would all agree that the discussions on this topic couldn ’ t have come at a more appropriate time, given the current financial market turbulence we are encountering today. right now, all eyes are focusing on what solution central banks will come up with to resolve the current global crisis. this gathering is the first regional meeting of governors amidst the turmoil, and so we should take this opportunity to exchange views and reflect on how the financial environment which is undergoing a major transformation as we speak, will have implications on our roles as central banks. looking at the overall picture, what is now going on in wall street may remind us of what happened in our region 11 years ago. at a glance, the root causes of both events are strikingly similar : investors taking excessively high risks creating asset price bubbles, against the background of lax prudential and monetary policy. with today ’ s financial environment, however, changes in the regulatory requirements, market players, business models of financial firms, as well as economic conditions have all played a part in escalating the impact of financial turmoil through the creation of a broader and deeper financial system. what is unfolding right now is taking place in the world ’ s largest economy with deepest capital markets, most sophisticated financial instruments – and, let me also add, the most advanced risk management tools. given the increased complexity and magnitude of the current crisis, this calls into question whether the tools available at hand to policy makers are adequate in ensuring economic stability, the essence of our mission as central bankers