Mr. Ed Sibley:

Different entities and parts of the State have different responsibilities across the system. We clearly have a responsibility to ensure effective regulation, financial stability and consumer protection. For good reason, the competition element of our mandate is no longer with us, about which there is no controversy. I refer to our opening statement. We have been clear on the need for regulatory convergence and made sure that is happening, both across countries and across sectors. While there may have been a little political noise earlier - I cannot talk about specific countries - opportunities for regulatory arbitrage have been closed by the actions being taken. Moreover, in our engagement with firms of substance there is not that much interest in driving, or looking for, a great deal of regulatory convergence. They respect and look for a credible, solid, strong regulator. Our absolute objective in our engagement with these firms is to show that we are transparent, open, predictable and capable of both progressing applications in an orderly fashion and in supervising them in an ongoing fashion. That is the role of the Central Bank and what are firmly making sure we are doing.