The strong and continuing support and commitment shown by the industry will augur well for the success of the Financial Mediation Bureau. Ladies and gentlemen, In recent years, much progress has been achieved in developing and strengthening the financial sector through policy initiatives in the areas of regulatory and supervisory frameworks, risk management and corporate governance. These have been complemented with consumer protection and education initiatives that promote more active consumerism to create a dynamic and responsive financial system. Moving forward, Bank Negara Malaysia will continue to focus on the development of the necessary infrastructure to ensure that consumers are given greater access to information on financial products and services that will enable them to make well-informed choices and safeguard consumer interests. Among the measures that are being finalized for implementation is the issuance of guidelines to ensure that the public has access to banking services at reasonable costs. Guidelines have been issued to banking institutions to govern the imposition of fees and charges. With effect from 1 February 2005, banking institutions will also be required to provide ‘basic banking services’ to Malaysians at minimal costs. The guideline specifies the minimum threshold of services and monthly transactions that are to be offered without charges. The details of the services offered under this guideline are being announced today. Over and above these financial services, as products and services become more complex, financial institutions need to provide appropriate pricing that not only reflect costs but also adequately reflect the cost saving that arises from investments undertaken.
Enrique Marshall: Central banks’ contribution to financial stability – the experience of Chile Speech by Mr Enrique Marshall, Board Member of the Central Bank of Chile, at the Central Bank of Bolivia’s First Financial Workshop “Macroregulation and Financial Stability”, La Paz, 29 September 2010. *  *  *  I am indebted to Kevin Cowan and Jorge Cayazzo for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this presentation but the opinions expressed here are the exclusive responsibility of the author. 1. Introduction  Financial stability has been a concern for central banks since their very origins. The functions for which they were created – to regulate money and credit markets and to serve as lenders of last resort – have a direct bearing on the objective of financial stability and this relationship has been further reinforced by the fact that many central banks have also undertaken a role in regulating and supervising the banking system. Both the economic literature and historical experience provide sound grounds for this concern for stability, clearly demonstrating that the functioning of the real economy requires an efficient and stable financial system. The hardest lesson of history, however, is that financial crises have occurred time and again, with a very high cost in terms of both their fiscal impact and the associated losses of output. 1 Financial stability has, as a result, emerged as a paramount objective of public policy.