How SEANZA was formed

The SEANZA forum was formed in October 1956 under the proposal of Governor Dr. H.C. Coombs of the Reserve Bank of Australia, which grew out of a meeting of the Central Bank Governors from British Commonwealth countries in the Asia Pacific Region. SEANZA stands for South East Asia, New Zealand and Australia. SEANZA forum was constituted initially central banks of 5 (five) Commonwealth countries namely Australia, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, and Pakistan. The main aim of the establishment of this regional forum is to foster cooperation and facilitate training of member central banks' staff in various aspects of central banking. It also operates as an avenue for members to exchange views and opinions, particularly on the issues of common interest among member economies.
Currently, SEANZA Forum comprises of 20 central banks and monetary authorities from developed as well as developing countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, China, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Macau and Bangladesh.
As time elapses, SEANZA Forum of Banking Supervisors was established in 1984 as a sub-group/ an offshoot of the SEANZA forum. The aim of the Forum is to create a platform for banking supervisors in establishing contact amongst members in order to exchange information on issues and problems of common interest. Along with the member central banks, the four banking supervisory authorities namely Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, China Banking Regulatory Commission, Financial Services Agency (Japan), Financial Supervisory Service (Korea) from Australia, China, Japan and Korea respectively got the membership of SEANZA Forum of Banking Supervisors.  
Bangladesh Bank assumed its chair and host for the years 2013-14. Under the umbrella of SEANZA forum, the SEANZA Governors' Symposium is held biennially with a rotating system of host members. Bangladesh Bank is hosting and chairing the 29th SEANZA Governors' Symposium in 2014 in Dhaka. In the meantime, Bangladesh Bank hosted the 29th SEANZA Advisors' Meeting and Central Banking Course (CBC) and organized one regional seminar titled 'Risk Management and Risk-based Supervision' in Hong Kong SAR, jointly with the Financial Stability Institute (FSI). During 30 September-02 October, 2014, another regional seminar titled 'Capital Adequacy and Basel III' will be arranged in Manila, Philippines, jointly with the FSI.
The 29th SEANZA Advisors' Meeting, a high level meeting comprising of representatives from member institutions, took place in Dhaka on 15 February 2014. A total of 26 delegates from 13 SEANZA member countries attended the meeting. On behalf of the Chairman of 28th SEANZA events Dr. Gae Yandabing Kauzi, Assistant Governor, Bank of Papua New Guinea  officially handed over the chairmanship to Mr. Shitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank. Bangladesh Bank is feeling honoured to chair and host the 29th SEANZA events during 2013-14 after almost three decades back in 1986.
Bangladesh Bank as the current host and chair of the SEANZA Forum of Banking Supervisors arranged the CBC during August 24 to August 28, 2014 at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In that course, various aspects of central banking as well as financial sector stability issues were covered, including a wide range of topics from the areas of monetary stability, financial stability, payment systems and other aspects of central banking. Some key topics of monetary stability areas included the issues on monetary policy objectives, its transmission mechanism, limitations, synchronization of monetary and fiscal policy, central bank independence etc. Financial stability areas covered the issues on macroprudential policy, tools and supervision, risk-based supervision, Basel III liquidity management and capital issues, financial crises, deposit insurance and bank resolution, financial inclusion and financial stability. There were some case studies and panel discussions on contemporary issues.

Payment system areas incorporated payment system risk and vulnerabilities, modern innovation in payment system, interconnectedness of banks, international best practices in managing risks and improving the efficiency of payment settlements.
There were some opportunities of sharing cross-country experiences in implementing the financial stability policies/tools. In that course, a total number of 38 participants from 14 member countries including participants from two non-member countries (Germany and Fiji) actively took part. Resource persons came from reputed local and overseas universities, expert institutions and central banks. Dr. Peter Sinclair, Professor Emeritus, University of Birmingham and former Director, Centre for Central Banking Studies , Bank of England  worked as the Course Director in the CBC.
The 29th SEANZA Governors' Symposium is going to be held on August 30, 2014 at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel, Dhaka. The theme of the symposium is 'Macroeconomic Environment and Financial Sector Stability: Vulnerability and Managing Crises'. The keynote speech will be delivered by the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Atiur Rahman. The keynote speech will address the inter-relationship between macroeconomic environment and financial sector stability, macroeconomic vulnerabilities and issues on crisis management. It is expected that participants of the symposium will actively take part in the discussion afterward which in turn let the policymakers adopt the most suitable policy tools for their respective countries. In this high level program, the host of next (30th) SEANZA events as well as other issues would be finalised.  

It is expected that the 29th SEANZA CBC and Governors' Symposium would be successful in achieving the broader objective of creating the regional forum of both developed and developing countries in a wide geographical domain, spreading from South East Asia to the Oceania region to assist in the development and capacity building of mid-level to senior level officers; to build up the knowledge of central banking, with particular reference to macroeconomic conditions in the SEANZA member countries; to promote understanding of the problems of developing countries as well as to foster friendly relations and technical co-operation among central banks in the SEANZA region. It would be encouraging if any member country could learn from the experience of other member countries or from the rest of the world.

Bangladesh Bank is proud to welcome the Governors, Deputy Governors and delegates of SEANZA Forum to its 29th SEANZA CBC and Governors' Symposium in Dhaka. Financial Stability Department of Bangladesh Bank is honoured to work as the event secretariat for the SEANZA events for the years 2013-14.