Tunis — Mr. Taoufik Baccar, the Governor of Tunisia's Central Bank (BCT) opened on Monday in Tunis, a regional seminar on the theme "Central Banks and the financial crisis."

Reviewing the various factors that led to financial crisis Mr. Baccar said that the international financial community is going through a "serious, and probably historic moment".

He noted that central banks have to be major players in maintaining stability in the financial world, in anticipating and resolving crises. The recent crisis, he said, showed that markets were not efficient and they incapable of regulating themselves, hence the need to strengthen regulatory mechanisms through international financial reforms.

He added that in order to ensure better risk management it is now important to ensure extensive monitoring to banks and non-banking financial institutions as well as to all actors involved in financial markets.

Regarding reforms currently underway, Mr. Baccar particularly focused on the reorganization of regulators, noting in this contect that "central banks will play a leading role in this new architecture."

Mr Baccar also stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation in the new international financial architecture.

Pending the establishment of a global financial supervision, it is necessary to support the coordination of regulation by international bodies (IMF, BIS, counsel for financial stability) and that with support representative groups of countries, like the G-20.

Concerning the Tunisian experience, Mr. Baccar stressed Tunisia's concern, in preserving stability. He recalled the amendment of BCT'status, which since 2006, has striven to ensure the stability, soundness and efficiency of the financial system.

With the aim of ensuring monetary and financial stability, the new law empowers the BCT to cooperate with regulatory authorities and financial sectors of insurance with a view to establish a framework for cooperation control, he said.

The BCT has been authorized to execute bilateral cooperation agreements with supervisory authorities of other countries. This system has been strengthened by the establishment, in 2004, by the Directorate General for financial stability and more recently by the creation in January 2009, as instructed by the President of the Republic, of a financial research center as well as the carrying out of several studies and reports on the world economic situation.