Ultimately, regulations exist to promote a safe, efficient and sound financial system that is competitive and where consumers’ interest are protected. Regulatory regimes promote the foundation of trust and confidence that is crucial in any financial system. If people do not trust the system, financial intermediation cannot take place in any shape or form. As the modalities for financial intermediation and payments are transformed by technology, regulation should play an 6/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  active role in creating a similar environment of trust to ensure overall financial stability. The boundaries of regulation will evolve to provide the freedom for participants in the Malaysian financial system to innovate and adopt technology to exploit efficiencies and create new and better solutions. Solutions that not only deliver better experience for consumers, but that better align the responsibilities that we all carry as responsible citizens, to lift people out of poverty, provide our fellow Malaysians a decent living standard, eliminate discrimination and protect our environment. Regulation is never intended to make market players ‘boring'. If they feel that way, it only tells us one thing – that they have become too complacent in their comfort zone and should undertake a reality check. Malaysia’s financial institutions especially must not lay idle as innovations will be relentless in accessing and penetrating the traditional market long enjoyed by the banks. Using the disguise of being tied by regulations is not a valid excuse.
The Global  Financial Crisis led to a loss of economic activity equivalent to around £ per person in the UK, based on the net present value of the shortfall in income since 2007 compared to its pre-2007 trend(Brazier 2019). 2 For  example, Acemoglu and Zilibotti (1997), Arestis and Demetriades (1997), and Beck and Levine (2004) provide evidence that the financial sector has a positive role on economic growth. 3 The ‘efficient market hypothesis’ was popularised by Fama (1970). Complete markets were theorised by Arrow  and Debreu (1954). 4 For example, markets could be inefficient due to information asymmetries, transaction costs, market  psychology, sticky prices, monopolistic competition, or credit constraints. 5 Drehmann et al. (2012) and Lang et al. (2020) highlight the importance of cyclical risk for financial stability. 6 Glasserman and Young (2015) and Acemoglu et al. (2015) discuss the risk of contagion in the financial system. 7 Woods (2022) discusses alternative approaches to buffer usability. 8 6/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  8 See Bank of England (2021). 9 See Chatterjee (2022) for a comparison of the UK financial conditions index for the GFC and Covid. 10 Lloyd et al. (2021) shows that foreign shocks are a key driver of domestic macroeconomic tail risks. Bluwstein et  al. (2020) also show that global factors can predict financial crises. 11 See Czech et al. (2021). 12 Bank of England (2021) provides more details on vulnerabilities associated with market-based finance and  liquidity mismatch in open-ended funds, in particular.