The Institute of Financial Services' well-attended annual seminar recently focused on Risk, Capital and Financial Stability in a Post-Crises Basel II World.

IFS president Joseph Abdilla said the institute felt obliged to bring together a distinguished panel of speakers to address this subject in view of the recent financial turmoil, ongoing uncertainty, further regulation and need to restore confidence and trust in the global financial services industry.

The Governor of the Central Bank, Michael Bonello, highlighted the causes and repercussions of the financial crisis, what actions have been taken to overcome this and what still needs to be done to ensure financial stability and proper functioning of the financial markets.

Guest speaker Paul Hilbers gave a presentation on Basel II Considerations In A Globalised Context: Challenges For The Future.

He spoke about the strategic responses to the crisis and the impact on capital and liquidity standards and practical implications of proposed regulatory changes. Dr Hilbers was until recently at the IMF in Washington DC and is now division director of the Supervisory Department at the Dutch Central Bank.

Juanita Bencini, head of regulatory and compliance advisory services at KPMG discussed the impact of Basel II on bank strategies and gave a detailed explanation of dynamic provisioning, where financial buffers are built during good times for winding down during the bad times. Implications for businesses were also discussed.

Karol Gabarretta, head of the MFSA's Banking Supervision Unit, gave an informative and comprehensive overview of assessing risk and capital adequacy from a regulatory perspective and the perceived impact of the proposals on local financial institutions.

The seminar was chaired by IFS committee member Peter Calleya.