And I will share some thoughts on how we can make the banking sector in this part of the world healthy again. The key question I will seek to answer is: “Can intensive regulation and Micro-, Small-, and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) financing coincide?” But before answering that question, let me first sketch how this intensive regulation came about.
Over the past few decades, banking in most developed economies has become increasingly complex, interwoven, innovative and international. Furthermore, the focus of many Western banks has gradually shifted away from what their core task should have been: Namely, to service the real economy and its customers. Instead, these banks increasingly engaged in the lucrative business of making money with money.