Kathmandu, March 6:

Nepal’s financial sector, which would face international competition after it is opened to international operators from 2010 as per the commitments made by Nepal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is preparing for entering into Basle II accord.

Acting governor at Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Krishna Bahadur Manandhar, while speaking at the inaugural function on ‘Banking Supervision Seminar’, said that with the objective of enhancing regulatory and supervisory framework, NRB has its plans to implement core principles developed by Basle Committee.

Commercial banks of the country are also showing interest and joining hands with the central bank in the process of implementing these principles which is encouraging, Manandhar said.

Manandhar commented that in Nepal, corporate governance and culture are yet to take root. The workshop is aimed at enhancing skills and sharing knowledge among NRB staff members in areas such as regulation, supervision and licensing and corporate governance, he said. The technical support from international partners would be effective to boost human resource and quality of services of NRB in days ahead, Manandhar hoped. The cooperation fro-m International Advisory Gr-oup of office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) Canada would be instrumental in boosting the capacity of our banking experts, he commented.

Kim Norris, managing director of International Advisory Group IAG), at the office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada (OSFI), speaking at the function said that the workshop would focus on understanding issues such as licensing, corporate governance, banking monitoring, bank management and international standards, rules and regulations in the context of Nepal going to face global competition in the financial sector.

Deputy governor of NRB, Bir Bikram Rayamajhi said that the central bank is expediting its supervisory framework through effective regulation and monitoring of the banking sector.

The seminar will be an added advantage for the staff of NRB and other commercial bank officials to understand various issues as to the supervisory framework such as inherent risk, operational management, risk management control functions net risk, among others.

Three Canadian financial experts namely Kim Norris, James Bruce and Jean Sarazin are resources persons for the three day long seminar organised by NRB.

Issues such as OSFI’s services in financial institutions, money laundering, Basle core principles, licensing and corporate governance. The core principles for effective banking supervision are also going to be discussed at the seminar, according to the organisers.

According to Canadian experts, the importance of licensing, interdependent with supervisory requirement, benefits of licensing, international standards, risk management system assessment relating to issues such as policies, control, monitoring and report in the banking operations. A total of 35, including commercial bank employees are taking part in the seminar.