The global financial crisis significantly undermined confidence in the financial system, and the discovery of ethical lapses that continue to be reported today has further eroded public trust in financial institutions. There is an urgent need to restore faith in the utility of financial services, firstly through the demonstration of fair and responsible practices and reinforced with the provision of valueadding products and services that are meeting the real needs of consumers and businesses. Financial institutions with their extensive reach and customer relationships are in a unique position to have a more significant role in advancing the financial education agenda. In Malaysia, this has included providing technical support and materials for teachers to improve their knowledge and increase confidence in teaching financial matters in schools. Financial institutions have also adopted more than 10,000 schools across the country under the School Adoption Programme with wide ranging activities in money management for the children. The financial institutions also work closely with the Credit and Debt Management Agency in the implementation of financial education programmes for adults. Today, the focus on financial capability has become a global agenda. This has provided opportunities for policymakers to learn from their peers across countries and leverage on the international network of expertise in addressing common issues and challenges. This Symposium is a great example of realising such opportunities. The possibilities for meaningful cooperation at the regional and global levels are tremendous. This has already included research, technical assistance and guidance for policymakers.
Chris Salmon: The UK payments landscape Remarks by Mr Chris Salmon, Executive Director for Banking Services and Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, at the C D Howe Institute Special Policy Conference “Canadian Payment Systems”, Toronto, 4 November 2013. *  *  *  I would like to thank Nicholas Constantine, Andrew Dent, Rosey Jeffery, Simon Rickenbach and Peter Williams for their comments and contributions. Introduction Today’s conference provides an opportunity to review how the Canadian payments landscape could evolve. On the basis that there will be some relevant crossovers, perhaps the most helpful contribution I can make is to summarise some of the challenges we face in the United Kingdom. In line with this session’s focus, I will cover the core sterling payments infrastructure, defined as the key wholesale and retail payment schemes that the Bank oversees, and focus on integrity, which is at the heart of a central bank’s interest in payments. As a precursor it may be helpful to give a brief overview of the current set-up of the UK’s payments landscape. The Bank of England operates the UK’s real time gross settlement infrastructure, RTGS. CHAPS, our high value payment system, has settled on a real time gross basis since 1996, and CREST, our securities settlement system, since 2001. They settle in central bank money across accounts their members hold in RTGS.