Remarks by Mr T.T. Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at the Spire Awards ceremony of the Bond Exchange of South Africa, 26 October 2006 Honoured guestsNominees, their colleagues and TreasurersMembers of the Bond Exchange of South AfricaMembers of the pressSponsors of the Spire Awards and organisers of this prestigious event 1. Introduction Time flies, and once again we gather here tonight to celebrate another successful year in the South African bond market, filled with vigorous activity and continuous innovation. In celebrating this, we again have an opportunity to recognise those individuals and organisations for whom 2006 was a particularly fruitful year of outstanding achievement. I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to the winners of the awards handed out tonight. It is the dedication and hard work of professionals such as yourselves who contribute to the success of the bond market, which counts among the most developed and liquid in the emerging-market arena. However, allow me also to congratulate all the nominees, whether they receive a trophy or not, as well as those who have looked beyond themselves and their own interests to nominate others, and those who have worked unobserved in the background, supporting and contributing to the successes of the winners. A special word of appreciation to the Bond Exchange of South Africa (Besa), for hosting this event and acknowledging excellence in our bond market is also fitting. 2. Significance of the Spire Awards: embracing the nature of markets Tonight marks the fifth year of Spire Awards. According to the description of Besa, these awards “recognise those individuals and teams who have used talent, intelligence and commitment to contribute to the bond market in South Africa.” The award categories have also been expanded this year to cover the entire value chain of the debt market - from borrower to broker, research to sales, origination to media reporting. While preparing this speech, a particular aspect of the description of Besa of the Spire Awards struck me, namely how it encompasses both the collective and competitive nature of markets – two characteristics that seem to contradict each other, yet cannot be separated. Allow me to share some views on this. Markets, as we know, are inherently interdependent. Although many individuals, individual teams or individual organisations are rewarded for their excellence tonight, the very concept of a market is a collective one: no deal can be matched without an opposite position, there cannot be a sale without a purchase, a trade cannot be effected if it is not settled, no settlement can take place without a clearing system, no money can flow without a banking system or a national payments system. Each individual participant in the market provides a source of demand, supply, pricing, research, technical support and innovation. People and organisations rely on each other to trade, to make profits, to earn fees, to provide information and to provide opportunities to excel. This interdependence is finely balanced. Whenever one individual, one team or one organisation starts to permanently dominate a market, the system tends to become inefficient. In such circumstances, markets may become merely a mechanism to advance the interests of individuals or members of a select group, at the expense of the broader community. I commend Besa for making the categories for the Spire Awards broad enough to acknowledge a wide variety of market participants in various areas, to ensure that different kinds of contributions are recognised and to give opportunities to both newcomers and veterans to make their mark. The awards strive to give recognition to those who have used their talent, commitment and hard work not only for their own benefit, but to the benefit of their clients, their organisations, the bond market as a whole and even the country at large. However, although market participants are heavily dependent on each other, they also have to be competitive. It would be very naïve to expect financial market participa