Before I proceed any further, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to all the people affected by the earthquake in Indonesia and the tsunamis that followed it. Though we are far away in New York from the tragic events in the Indian Ocean, I hope that we could do everything within our capacity to help our sisters and brothers in distress.
Taken together, these measures should improve the transparency of complex firms; in doing so, they will enhance the quality of information available for  4  BIS Review 14/2002  effective market discipline and banking supervision in ways that strengthen the financial system of the twenty-first century. BIS Review 14/2002  5