To argue that more information is better than less information is as close to a truism as we can get in economics.17 Nor would any informed observer dispute the need for root-and-branch reform of prudential supervision in these countries.18 The issues here are not ones of principle, but are operational: how to put in place an enforceable set of rules which is sufficiently strict to protect the core of the financial system from crises, without making the rules so onerous that financing shifts elsewhere, to an unregulated but equally-vulnerable channel.
The third area - private sector burden sharing - requires some elaboration. Despite the best endeavours on information/transparency and in building up prudential strength, it is hard to believe that the problems will be quickly and fully eliminated. For a start, a good prudential system will take many years to develop, considering that it requires counterpart improvement in accounting, legal and bankruptcy arrangements.