2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  In Zambia, although the financial sector was not adversely affected by the crisis in a direct fashion, over the period 1995–2000, the sector experienced numerous episodes of bank failures that have had adverse effects on the confidence in the financial system. A total of ten banks were closed during this period and a major weakness noted in all the failures were the weak governance structures and practices in the banks. A close examination of the failed banks identified the following weaknesses which were common in most of them; large credit exposures, lending to connected parties, poor or absence of a credit policy, incompetent management coupled with ineffective boards, foreign exchange exposures and an absence of or inadequate risk management frameworks. In other banks, the board chairman was also the majority shareholder and the chief executive of the bank. Such basic risk management failures, to a large extent reflect a breakdown in corporate governance. Chairperson, you may wish to note that the Zambian Banking system is stronger and properly regulated today than it was in the 1990s. The Bank of Zambia has been periodically reviewing the Banking and Financial Services Act (BFSA) to bring it up to date with international standards and current global practices. One of the areas the Banks has continued to strengthen is the corporate governance provisions to ensure that the board of directors and senior management of banks and financial institutions conduct the affairs of their institutions prudently.
Their expertise will surely benefit our audience today. I would also like to thank HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, BOC and BNP Paribas for sharing their experiences with everyone later today. 15. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all a fruitful workshop and I look forward to working closely together with the industry to develop green and sustainable banking in Hong Kong. Thank you very much. 2/2  BIS central bankers' speeches