What this means is that the MPF brings together a number of different companies and, along with these companies, their various regulators: the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission, the Insurance Authority and the HKMA. The involvement of four regulators creates an obvious need for clarity on their respective roles and coordination of these roles. The MPFA is clearly in the driving seat as the lead regulator. It has the responsibility to administer the MPF Ordinance and to ensure compliance with the legislation. It approves and regulates the trustees who have the central role in ensuring that schemes are properly managed. The MPFA has also produced a code of conduct for MPF intermediaries. However, the day-to-day supervision of such intermediaries rests with the SFC, Insurance Authority and HKMA depending on which of us is the main regulator of the intermediary in question. The SFC also has a role to play in authorising MPF funds and in the licensing and supervision of investment managers and advisers. BIS Review 71/2001  3  This may seem complicated, but it seems to work. The arrangements have been cemented by a Memorandum of Understanding among the various parties and through the establishment of a MPF Intermediaries Regulation Coordinating Committee that comprises representatives of the four regulators and the Financial Services Bureau. At a higher level, all the various parties are represented on the Council of Financial Regulators, which is chaired by the Financial Secretary and whose remit is to address cross-sectoral regulatory issues.
The quota have also been doubled to THB 3,000 million for next year. I am confident that the subsequent sessions in this two-day forum will offer you a clear picture on the opportunities and prospects this region has to offer. While the private sector works hard to “Move Up”, “Move Out” and “Move In”, the focus of the public sector is on infrastructure, both physical and intangible, to raise the competitiveness of the economy, elevate its workforce capability and enhance its return on capital. Recognizing the short lived, though timely, nature of consumption-led stimulus, the government is embarking on a major infrastructure investments in logistics, communication, water management and transportation. A strong and efficient logistic system will significantly help reduce transportation and logistic costs which are major impediments to our longer term growth. These projects will help unlock the bottleneck and raise overall competitiveness as well as crowd in private investments. Infrastructural projects will also strengthen Thailand’s position as a hub for our Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) neighbors, and is expected to accelerate the integration of these economies as we approach the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community. Projects such as the North-South and East-West corridors will further facilitate integration as well as efficiency of transportation and logistics in the region. As the Western economies progress in the recovery from the global financial crisis, we in Asia should step up our preparations to avail ourselves of the benefits once the global economy is back on its track.