Condolences continue to pour in from the financial community concerning the destruction of the World Trade Center yesterday.

Minister of Finance Paul Martin said in a statement, “First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of yesterday’s tragic events and their families and friends. I join with others in condemning the cowardly attacks on innocent people.”

Martin said that he has been in contact with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and a number of other G7 finance ministers during the last 24 hours. “We are confident that the international financial system is stable and secure. Canadians can be confident that their financial system is sound. The Bank of Canada has assured the public that it will provide the liquidity necessary to support the stability of the Canadian financial system and the continued functioning of financial markets. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is monitoring the situation, and Canadians can continue to have confidence in the prudential soundness of the Canadian financial sector.”

The G7 finance ministers and central bank governors also issued a joint statement condemning the attacks, and offering condolences to the victims. In the statement they said that “Our central banks have indicated that they will provide liquidity to ensure that financial markets operate in an orderly fashion.”

At the same time the North American Securities Administrators Association issued a statement on the attack. “We extend our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, friends or colleagues in this terrible tragedy,” said Joseph Borg, NASAA president and director of securities for Alabama.

Investment Company Institute president Matthew Fink said, “The Investment Company Institute, the national association of the American mutual fund industry, deplores the acts of terrorism that today occurred in New York and Washington.”

Fink added, “Mutual funds will be ready to resume business as soon as the U.S. financial markets reopen.”