In this case formalism is based on task performance and makes the control structures become dormant or inhibits their positive progress. So it is crucial that the law itself and regulations be as clear and implementable as possible in order to establish confidentiality and facilities in their implementation process. Passing in the definition of the risk profile of the client, is the only way that would permit the compliance with the spirit of the law. This approach is based on a sound “know your client” policy of the bank, which should be a standard requirement nowadays. This approach has several advantages, where one could mention improved capabilities on tightening the system to prevent or detect cases of ML. Furthermore, it allows better distribution and focus of financial and human resources, resulting in a lowering of compliance costs. At the same time, it allows those institutions responsible for implementing the law and analysing the information, to focus on the full investigation of those transactions that represent higher risk of being ML. Another delicate issue that I would to stress on in my speech is keeping and protecting the confidentiality on giving and managing the information on suspicious transactions. Our practice has shown that problems with this issue are complex. We have had cases of confidential information being public in the press, the next day they were filed.
For example, there is currently substantial agreement, both among academics and monetary authorities, on the need to provide central banks with sufficient formal and effective institutional independence, the superiority of interest-rate operational targets over quantitative instruments, and the pursuit of low inflation as the main objective for monetary policy. Both trends - towards deeper and more integrated financial markets, at one end, and towards monetary policies clearly determined to deliver price stability, at the other - are important factors behind the sound macroeconomic performance recorded practically worldwide over the last decade. Notwithstanding this positive view on the recent past, central banks must deploy their best efforts improving their monetary policy and regulatory and supervisory arrangements - to preserve and consolidate the attainments I mentioned, since various significant risks and challenges lie ahead. As stressed by Frederic Mishkin, the final success of the processes of financial liberalisation and globalisation in developing economies hinges crucially on the ability of both policymakers and the private sector to properly respond to a rapidly changing environment. No doubt, the spirit of this proposition applies likewise to developed countries. BIS Review 53/2006  1  An increasingly liberalised and globalised financial system necessitates a reconsideration of some key inputs in our current monetary strategies. The greater relevance of markets and their evolving nature requires an ongoing assessment of the different monetary policy transmission mechanisms. This area, while critical to successful monetary policy decision-making, still remains shrouded in considerable uncertainty.