The main objectives are to reduce the probability of failure of such institutions and, in case a failure occurs, to reduce the impact on the financial system. In September 2010, the Governors and Heads of Supervision agreed that systemically important financial institutions should have additional loss absorbing capacity. Work is currently underway on how to define institutions that are systemically important, and how to determine the capital surcharges, contingent capital and other elements to limit systemic fallout. With the shadow banking system, we have to ensure that tighter regulatory rules do not provide incentives for financial institutions to shift their activities to unregulated areas. Oversight of the shadow banking sector needs to be improved. The FSB has already done valuable work – supported by the ECB – on shadow banking. In this context, the ECB is providing the Financial Stability Board (FSB) with flow of funds data on the composition of the financial sector concerning the euro area. The concrete challenges lie in the establishment of a suitable definition of shadow banking and outlining possible regulatory options to address the risks posed by this sector. Given the background of the crisis, regulatory effort on financial institutions has focused on banking, but there is important work underway also for other financial institutions, such as the further specification of the capital adequacy regime for insurance companies (“solvency II”). II. Market regulation  Let me turn to the second building block, namely regulation of financial markets. This area is as challenging and as complex as banking.
Stock Markets enable firms to acquire the much needed capital at relatively lower cost, hence facilitating capital allocation, investment and growth. The stock market also plays a resource mobilisation role by encouraging savings through the purchase of equities that meet investors risk preferences and liquidity needs. The provision of information on the stock market and its activity such as contained in the CASE handbook is therefore one way of promoting investor awareness and participation on our local market. This will no doubt enhance the development of the stock exchange and its contribution to our economy. Chairperson, as you may be aware, the Government of the Republic of Zambia has been implementing a comprehensive Financial Sector Development Plan (FSDP) since 2004, whose main objective is to broaden and deepen the financial sector in Zambia. Under the FSDP, the need for a well-developed capital market as an engine for economic development is emphasised as it among other things would enable investors have access to a wide range of investment options. It is for this reason that the Bank of Zambia together with stakeholders introduced a number of initiatives aimed at further developing the capital market. This includes the introduction of long term Government bonds, which among other purposes, was aimed at providing an appropriate platform for pricing corporate bonds. Furthermore, the Bank of Zambia in collaboration with LuSE and Bankers Association of Zambia is in the process of extending the services of RTGS to settle stock exchange transaction.