If hosts cannot influence the process of supervision or crisis management, their trust in and use of the information from the home authority will be very limited. Sharing information and cooperating on regulatory actions may be problematic already in normal times, but is probably much more difficult in a crisis situation when economic risks and costs are clearly visible. So far, cooperation and coordination in crisis situations is dealt with in the EU by various Memoranda of Understanding. Even if these MoUs are not legally binding, they are valuable documents. They provide a basis from which more operational crisis cooperation agreements can be developed by the countries and authorities that see the need to do so. But looking at this increasingly complex patchwork of supervisory colleges, central bank networks and MoUs that we are now creating, one cannot help to wonder if there are not any better alternatives for cross-border cooperation. Future alternatives to the home-host model What are, in the long term, the alternative models to the current home-host set-up? In the EU, we are committed to creating a single market for financial services. If we take off our national central bank and supervisor hats, are we really convinced that the home-host model is the best one in the long run? After all, several serious alternative models have been suggested. The pros and cons of the three main models are reviewed in an interesting paper by Oosterloo and Schoenmaker.3 I will briefly comment on these.
This reflects the heightened state of vigilance in Bank Negara Malaysia as we continue to direct significant effort and resources towards strengthening our surveillance. In addition to macro surveillance, the supervision framework is also more forward looking including increased engagements and dialogue with senior management of financial institution, industry leaders, trade bodies and various chambers of commerce for the early detection of emerging issues and developments. BIS Review 58/2009  1  Facilitating access to credit and easing monetary policy Another area of importance is the continuing availability of credit from the banking sector. We have earlier highlighted the rate of growth in outstanding loans. In addition, the government has introduced specific guarantee schemes while Bank Negara Malaysia also, on its part, maintained a monetary policy easing stance that is conducive to achieve the same goal of facilitating access to credit at reasonable cost. At the same time, to assist the household sector, the Agensi Kaunselling dan Pengurusan kredit (AKPK) is also an avenue for individual borrowers and potential borrowers to seek advice and assistance in managing their finances and debts. Clients of the banking industry may also contact Bank Negara Malaysia hotlines and its LINK and TeleLINK for assistance for info. LINK refers to Laman Informasi Nasihat dan Khidmat. Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has also introduced toll free lines for the benefit of its stakeholders. These combined efforts seek to lower borrowing costs and ease cash flows while at the same time promote financial discipline.