##ly with the banking industry to produce the best practices for the nfc mobile payment, which was released in 2013. 20. this common set of technical standards has laid the foundation for achieving security and interoperability among different m - payment services. in concrete terms : i ) consumers can use a smartphone to download not just one payment service, but different payment services of their choice ; ii ) consumers can switch to a new network or change to a new smartphone without disrupting the continuity of the existing m - payment services ; and iii ) all m - payment service providers are required to comply with common security and data protection measures that are in conformity with international standards. “ hard ” infrastructure – market - driven approach 21. the second recommendation of the consultant was about the “ hard ” infrastructure. the consultant recommended that the hkma should, based on the agreed standards, encourage and facilitate the market to develop a robust infrastructure to drive its growth. 22. international experience indicates that the hard infrastructure to support nfc mobile payment can be achieved through a market - driven approach or a government - led approach. after careful consideration, we decided to adopt a market - driven approach, for several compelling reasons. i ) first, emerging payment technologies are fast - evolving. payment service providers are closer to the market and are therefore able to make fast business decisions to develop infrastructure and services that would respond to the market needs in a timely manner. ii ) second, the success of new retail payment products and services hinges on personal experience of the individual user. here, again, market players, who know better than anyone else the tastes of their customers, are in a good position to develop payment products and services that truly fit their customers ’ needs and therefore have better chance of success. iii ) third, a domestic card association had indicated early on that it would build a shared nfc platform for its member banks, which is able to support over 20 banks based on statistics from octopus, hkicl, hkma. bis central bankers ’ speeches to provide nfc payment services. the project would to a large extent achieve the objective of having a piece of interoperable infrastructure. 23. so far, the market - driven approach has served us well. one stored value card company has launched such services, so have four other banks, in partnership with two major card associations. by the end of this year, the shared nfc payment platform i mentioned should be ready for operation. iv. sound regulatory framework 24. while hong kong is well - positioned to

hamad al - sayari : corporate governance for banks in the kingdom of saudi arabia speech by his excellency hamad al - sayari, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency, at the high - level roundtable discussion for bank executives on corporate governance for banks in saudi arabia, institute of banking, riyadh, 22 - 23 may 2007. * * * dear distinguished audience it is a great pleasure for me to welcome you, and i am delighted by your participation at this important conference on " corporate governance " organized jointly by the institute of banking and the ifc. corporate governance is popularly defined as a structural organization and executive procedures used to direct and manage business to achieve the objectives of the company and ensure its financial stability. in the past decade, this subject has taken increasing worldwide prominence because of its importance and relevance for the enhancement of macro - economic development and growth and the stability of the national financial systems in particular. in spite of the scarcity of books issued in arabic on this subject, it is worth referring to two books ; the first entitled " corporate governance " issued by mr. abdulmajeed al - bastati in 2004 and the second entitled a€œthe way towards a governing system for corporations " issued by dr. ibraheem al - muneef in 2006. the latter refers to a third book, which i have not read, issued by mr. saleh ali husein in 2003 under the title " practicing and managing the authority in business organizations ". dear distinguished audience, effective board and management leadership in any financial institution is the key pillar that would enable the institution to achieve its objectives and guarantee its development and growth for the service of all parties including shareholders and staff. effective leadership stems from sound corporate governance practiced by competent and highly experienced officials and directors at the various levels, setting a comprehensive strategy and elaborate business plans with appropriate mechanisms of responsibility, transparency and accountability in the financial institution. in this regard, the board of directors plays a prominent role in overseeing the development of a comprehensive strategy of the financial institution and in monitoring the decisions made by senior management for achieving these objectives. this requires having necessary skills and competencies for realizing the objectives set by the board. in addition, the board should establish clear guidelines regarding the independence of all departments and businesses in the organization and should ensure their compliance with established policies and approved procedures. therefore, special committees of the board such as the audit, compliance, compensation and other special committees, can play extremely important