contained thanks in part to the effectiveness of the regulatory and supervisory safeguards to counter technological risks ; however, intermediaries must continue to strengthen protection, given the greater technological content of their business and in order to deal with the intensification of cyber threats. the negative implications for the stability of the financial system linked to the growing use of new technologies must be resolutely countered, without reducing their adoption. the outsourcing of it services to a limited number of operators not subject to supervision increases the danger that if service is interrupted by one or more suppliers, it could have systemic consequences, hence the need to come up with new kinds of supervision and intervention. the spread of applications that make use of artificial intelligence, supporting both internal processes and the supply of services to users, produces several qualitative and quantitative benefits ( in areas ranging from back - office processes to the analysis and management of credit, cyber and operational risks, and from marketing to financial investment advisory services ). nevertheless, this means that intermediaries have to monitor the processes adequately, offsetting the complexity and opaqueness of the algorithms and preventing the mechanical adoption of such processes from jeopardizing the interpretability of the results of the analysis and from leading to uses that may also be involuntarily wrong. these risks are flanked by those caused on the one hand, by an unchecked development of increasingly significant phenomena such as decentralized finance – which, by using distributed ledger technology ( dlt ) and smart contracts, allows transactions to be carried out without using an intermediary or a ‘ centralized ’ process – and on the other hand, by the growth of crypto - asset markets, especially those other than stablecoins ( which must nonetheless comply with important legal, regulatory and supervisory requirements – as reiterated by the g7 finance ministers and central bank governors ). the marked volatility of the value of instruments traded on crypto - asset markets – whose capitalization at global level has halved in the last few weeks compared with the peak of around $ 3, 000 billion reached last november – not only creates serious dangers for investors, as we have pointed out many times, but may also have significant implications for financial stability in the future. in this context, the action of supervisory authorities aims to ensure the efficacy of the rules guaranteeing the protection of investors, the correct functioning of market infrastructures and the security of the financial system and of the economy as a whole. the principle inspiring regulatory

technical compliance re - rating of 12 recommendations, of which 11 were successfully upgraded. the financial services commission, the bank of mauritius and the financial intelligence unit closely collaborate to fight financial crime. a memorandum of understanding between the three regulatory institutions was signed last year. the central bank is currently working on the establishment of a deposit insurance scheme. the legislation was approved by parliament and received presidential assent in april 2019. however, it is yet to be proclaimed. the central bank has already started working on the operational aspects of the scheme, which will guarantee coverage to eligible depositors up to a specific amount. at the same time, we are also working on a crisis resolution framework. collaboration with supervisory authorities many jurisdictions represented here are host to pan - african banking groups and mauritius is no exception. some of our local banks have also extended their footprint on mainland africa. home and host authorities are increasingly required to work closely for effective supervision of banks. the bank of mauritius has signed memoranda of understanding with 17 foreign regulatory authorities, which include banking sector regulators of kenya, south africa, nigeria, to name a few. consolidated supervision is now part of our supervisory toolkit and is conducted on a regular basis. home and host regulators are able to share their insights on the risk management framework of banking groups in supervisory college meetings. new areas such as cyber risks are closely monitored. in march 2019, the ombudsperson for financial services was appointed. complaints from consumers of financial services against financial institutions licensed by the bank of mauritius and the financial services commission are now handled by the ombudsperson ’ s office. this is expected to fast - track complaints resolution. it is also incumbent on the office of ombudsperson for financial services to inform and educate the general public on investments in financial services offered by financial institutions. my address will be incomplete if i do not mention the significance of corporate governance in banks. although a risk - based supervisory framework will ensure the strength and credibility of our financial system, it cannot eliminate the possibility of failure of an institution. i constantly remind my officers to keep a close watch on the governance practices of banks. it is an advice that i extend to all of you. concluding note i am sure that the seminar will provide you with a good insight into the challenges of implementing ifrs9 as well as key takeaways from the experiences of other countries. learning from others ’ experience will undoubtedly assist you all to improve your own supervisory practices. i am delighted to open this seminar on “