Ladies and gentlemen, the timing of this seminar is pertinent, given the economic and financial environment with which we are all confronted at the moment.
Following the bank failures of the 1980s, the government created a new prudential agency, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), with a clear mandate and the authority to take necessary corrective measures expeditiously. Financial regulatory standards were raised above international minimums, and supervision and oversight were strengthened. The fiscal transformation that followed our sovereign debt crisis was no less dramatic.