Background
• At the last annual meeting of the AFSPC in November 2003, it was agreed that training would be a priority activity for the AFSPC in 2004. Specifically, it was proposed that a mid-year workshop be organised for mid-level supervisors in member countries. The mid-year Workshop proposal was endorsed at the Governors’ meeting, with explicit support from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) for the Workshop to be held at the RBA’s training college in Sydney.

Sponsors and participants
• In addition to the RBA, principal sponsors were AusAid (providing funds for all the participants’ airfares and incidental allowances) and the International Advisory Group (IAG) of the Office of Superintendents of Financial Institutions Canada (sending three speakers to run three days of the Workshop). Other organisations which volunteered speakers included the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
• 23 participants from 14 Pacific countries attended the Workshop from 29 March to 2 April 2004 (see List of Participants below)

Program
• The first three days focused on the fundamentals of off-site supervision. Separate sessions on the supervision of Operational Risk Management, AML/CFT compliance and home/host supervisory issues filled the rest of the week (see Workshop Program below).
• The Workshop also benefited from Mr Barry Johnston, Assistant Director of the Financial Market Integrity Division of the IMF. Mr Johnston conducted a session to update participants on the IMF’s surveillance of Offshore Financial Centres and was the guest of honour at the Workshop dinner hosted by PFTAC for all the participants and donor agencies.

Ancillary attachment program
• Following the Workshop, four of the participants (from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu) stayed on for a one-week secondment with APRA. They were attached to the Operational Risk Consulting Team to learn about how APRA undertakes operational risk reviews, including the conduct of onsite examinations.

Photograph