The Bank Supervision Department (the Department) executes the functions assigned to the Registrar of Banks in terms of the Banks Act, 1990 (Act No. 94 of 1990 – the Act) and its mission is: “To promote the soundness of the domestic banking system and to minimise systemic risk through the effective and efficient application of international regulatory and supervisory standards.” The Department’s Annual Report (the Report) for the calendar year ended 31 December 2010 is issued in terms of section 10 of the Act and section 8 of the Mutual Banks Act, 1993 (Act No. 124 of 1993). The Report is factual in nature and presents an overview of the objectives and activities of the Department, with particular reference to the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. Key items covered in the Report include, amongst others, the Department’s interaction with various international regulatory standard-setting bodies, its participation in, and contribution to international and domestic regulatory and supervisory forums and its role in facilitating compliance with anti-money laundering and the combating of the financing of terrorism standards. The Report provides an overview of supervisory activities to promote the soundness of the banking system and developments relating to banking legislation during the period under review. Furthermore, an overview is provided of banking-sector trends covering the past three years. Finally, the Report contains various appendices providing useful administrative information pertaining to the banking sector and also detailing extensive financial data predicated on risk-based information submitted by banks over a three-year period ending December 2010. See attachment for the detailed report, as well as an executive summary thereof. ​