 It is day one of the Global Symposium for Regulators, the 17th annual, that's GSR 17, and we are joined by the Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas, Mr. John Rohl, who took part in a very interesting part panel of discussions on technologies that protect e-transactions. Now, Mr. Rohl, we'll start off really easy here. What role does the Central Bank of the Bahamas play in the protection of e-transactions? Well, the Central Bank's role is to regulate firms that are interested in providing payment services to consumers and to businesses, particularly those who are looking at some of the new mobile technologies like the mobile wallets and the like. We are responsible for the licensing and the regulation of those entities and part of the focus that we place during that process is looking at the safety of the technology that businesses use to provide their products and services. While we do not go in and inspect the technology from top to bottom, we require that they provide evidence to the bank that they have the systems in place to manage the technologies as well as on an annual basis we would be expecting companies that are licensed by us. And these are not the banks. Banks also provide payment services, but these are the new institutions that are coming out that are non-banks. We would expect that on an yearly basis they would provide in their public statements and disclosures evidence that they're getting regular checkups of their technology system from a safety and security point of view. So this morning there was about an hour and a half long discussion with some very compelling panelists who joined you up there. This morning we had representatives from MasterCard as well as Bit Inc. Talk a little bit about those discussions this morning and then how they help with your role. Well, they sort of reinforce I think the fact that in the Bahamas we are headed in the right direction in putting regulations in place for the sector. As a matter of fact we expect during the course of this week that the Centre Bank will issue the regulation for the sector and we'll begin to receive applications from private firms that are interested in providing the services. But one of the things that came across during the discussion is that security matters because you want the public to embrace the technology and they will only embrace it if they feel safe in using it. So our role is to make sure that whoever is out there providing these services have the safety systems in place. Beyond that we want the public to embrace the technology because the electronic payment services provide a much more efficient platform to get a larger part of our population in access to financial services and that is really an issue that the Bahamas is grappling with right now. I think a lot of businesses are captivated by what's happening in terms of the banks and their branch network in particular in some cases family island branch networks being reduced in some cases. So there is a concern as to whether the access to banking services will remain in some of our remote communities. Electronically provided services, payment services is one way of addressing that issue and so we need to make sure that those who now put their monies on these charge cards and the like that they feel safe and confident doing so. So very timely symposium I would say. Absolutely and this is really something that is happening around the world where it is recognized that you need to have the right framework in place to protect people who are using the technology. So GSR 17 we have over 400 delegates from more than 87 countries I believe it is. Talk about what these type of forum, how this benefits us here in the Bahamas especially when we're talking about e-transaction. What it does is it recognizes the central role that your telecommunications providers play in providing the platform for a lot of these new digital services. So the symposium of regulators is really foremost drawing in the regulators of telecommunications services. These are companies that are providing internet or telephone or other services and that is really the background infrastructure on which a lot of the other services are being provided. So it's very timely and fortunate that they and being in the Bahamas they are discussing topics which are at the forefront in terms of what Central Bank not just the Bahamas but through the Caribbean we're all looking at these issues. So what's your biggest takeaway so far especially from the session that you would have been a panelist on this morning? Well I think what one of the takeaways is that you have to make sure that the various regulators of the sector scenario economies that you work closely together in the space. The Central Bank regulates banks. We'll be regulating and licensing other supervising mobile wallets and the like. The Securities Commission regulates a lot of players that are involved in what we consider to be the paths of the payment system. ERCA regulates the telecommunications companies. They're all parts of that system. Very important is for these regulators to coordinate the activities and collaborate on the appropriate level. And what you're also I think becoming more tuned to is that a lot of the issues in the digital space and as far as financial technology are concerned these are issues that need to be high coordinated at a very high level. So it's no surprise that there's a conversation a lot more about having ministries within governments that focus on information and communications technology so that you can coordinate at the level the activities on the parts of your payment system that need to be properly regulated. Well thank you so much for joining us here today and I hope that you get to benefit much more from the rest of this symposium. This is the Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas, Mr. Johan Rol, joining us to talk a little bit about GSR 17.