The most notable example here is perhaps in the UK where the government will abolish the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and transfer its regulatory responsibility back to the Bank of England. While the UK may be an extreme case, a growing consensus has emerged that central banks should play a key role in preserving the overall stability and smooth functioning of the financial system. In this respect, having supervisory authority over systemically important financial institutions, such as commercial banks, would make the central bank’s job a little easier. Clearly, having monetary policy, lender of last resort function, and macroprudential policy under the same roof allows for better policy coordination. Ladies and Gentlemen, Against the backdrop of the changing policy philosophy in the global central banking community, let me now turn to the second part of my talk which is what the Bank of Thailand has been doing in the past few years with regard to the maintenance of financial stability. Through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, we learnt firsthand the importance of financial stability to the real economy as well as the need to preserve it. Indeed, that the Thai economy recovered rapidly from the global financial crisis this time can be attributed in part to policies that put a strong emphasis on the health of the financial system.
Since the introduction of the MPESA mobile banking service in Kenya, the number of adults with access to financial services has increased from 42% in 2011 to 75% today. Agent banking in Malaysia has provided consumers with an innovative and alternative channel to access financial services, resulting in the percentage of sub-districts served by financial services access point to increase from 46% in 2011 to 96% in 2014. This has enabled 99% of Malaysians, particularly those in rural areas, to conveniently access and benefit from financial services. The microfinance  1  “Global Financial Development Report 2014”, World Bank, 2014. 2  Discussion note “Redistribution, Inequality, and Growth”, IMF, 2014. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  institution Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has extended credit through its 2,500 branches to almost 8 million people, with 60% of them lifted from poverty. The loan recovery rate is higher than 98 percent. The experience in Bangladesh, in particular, dispels the myth that the poor is not bankable. Of proportionate regulation and the global standards The proportionate application of Global Standards for financial regulation is a critical factor in enabling innovative financial inclusion solutions, ensuring its delivery in a safe and sound manner. My remarks today will touch on the following topics: Recent developments in global standards and financial inclusion; Focus areas to advance Proportionality in Practice; and The importance of the Global Symposium to galvanise action.