Consumer confidence and trust in a well-functioning market for financial services promotes financial stability, growth, efficiency and innovation over the long term 1. Effective customer protection regulations together with an easily accessible mechanism to resolve disputes between customers and the regulated entities in a timely manner, are essential for promoting consumer confidence.
IV The evolution of the slowdown in the US highlights how important and how effective financial markets are. The speed at which the slowdown spread around the world underlines this importance. Changes in investment and in financing habits have altered the international links between the business cycles. For the first time since the mid-seventies oil crisis, the G-7 countries are slowing in step.