The Bank’s initiative was perceived as an unwarranted intervention by the regulator in what was a free market-based banking industry. Bankers and external auditors had continued to comfortably hang on to the belief that markets are self-regulating and efficient. How could an unregulated individual be deemed self-regulating? In the Bank’s thinking, selfregulation meant no regulation at all.
Quite expectedly, regulation of banks’ activities and operations attracted hateful criticisms. The tendency of some groups, like a special-forces warrior, to fight every new regulation had reached a vexing point. Despite resistance from pressure groups to resist, the Bank had proceeded with its regulatory reforms and soldiered on effectively.