would be formulated to further ensure that settlement would be a successful event each day. the cornerstone of the repss operational model is a settlement agent which will hold accounts of participants and carry out end of day procedures. repss is expected to stimulate and increase intra - regional trade by enabling importers to pay for goods and services in their local currencies, whilst exporters will be able to be invoiced for their products in their local currency. local banks will access the payment system through their central banks. any participating bank will, therefore, be able to make payments to, and receive payments from, any other participating bank. the linkages through central banks will avoid the payment chains that can sometimes occur in correspondent bank arrangements. the system will be operational through the use of the infrastructure of each member country ’ s central bank and commercial banking payment system. each country will, however, need to put in place adequate enabling legislation. it is further intended to establish a trust fund to assure daily settlements in the event of an inability to settle by one or more participating banks. repss is expected to bring about multiple benefits namely a reduction in ( i ) settlement transactions ; ( ii ) liquidity requirements to secure settlement ; ( iii ) exposure to foreign counter - parties ; ( iv ) foreign correspondent banking charges ; and ( v ) transactional and operational costs. these benefits would immediately be passed on to traders and other stakeholders and give everyone the needed comfort to expand their trade within the region. the setting up of a comesa clearing house closed user group and the admission of all participating central banks and commercial banks into the closed user group will greatly facilitate interactions amongst all members of the group and get all our commercial banks to have their cross - border transactions carried out securely through their respective central banks, without having to go through third parties outside our region. at the twelfth meeting of the comesa committee of governors of central banks held in tripoli on 8 and 9 november 2007, it was decided that a repss participating central bank acts as the settlement agent for the comesa clearing house and opens a us dollar and a euro account for the comesa clearing house at its central bank. ladies and gentlemen, the bank of mauritius is committed to mark its presence in the region and the repss is yet another step in the commitment of the bank towards regional cooperation, in our commitment to consolidate our relationship with the comesa, i am pleased to announce, that the bank of mauritius has, on an initiative of the governor

rock – which did not prove to be resilient to some shocks arising from some distant markets that he is having a such tough time. what i want to say, is that your business model is your business and the business of your directors, your chief executive and your shareholders. it's up to you to ensure that you are profitable. “ bank different ”, yes, but bank prudent as well. “ bank prudent, always! ” is what i say. we, at the central bank, have put rules and guidelines in the interest of the wider jurisdiction. we have to protect the consumer, the borrower and the lender as well. we want to have an efficient financial sector that can be benchmarked internationally. we want a clean jurisdiction. we are too small a jurisdiction to be able to afford a crisis like northern rock. banking is about risks. you must take risks but you must be aware of the risks that you are taking. the central bank may not know the risks, but you as bankers know your clients. we look at systemic risk but the risks of your bank, the threats to your business model, that's your business. we intend to allow the market to operate fully, whether it's the interbank market or the foreign exchange market. may, i draw your attention to the fact that we have not been intervening on the foreign exchange market lately inspite of pressures to do so. our policy at the bank is to intervene only if we are faced with excessive volatility. we cannot go against economic fundamentals. we are certainly not averse to market - supporting interventions. but we have no other specific targets to achieve. may i conclude my remarks with the hope that afrasia bank will build on the competence of all its partners including loita capital partners, whom we welcome to our shores and to our financial jurisdiction. i hope that it will build on the long and rich history of groupe mon loisir, within this historic setting which served as head office for one of our old colonial trading houses. this building has a very special cachet and its own atmospherics and with it, afrasia bank acquires an instant history! may it serve it well. i wish afrasia bank the very best of success. thank you for your attention.