consumers, and this change resulted in the creation in april 2010 of our banking conduct department. i will focus first on our work to strengthen consumer protection before going on to saying something about our work on consumer education. hkma & consumer protection in terms of consumer protection, first, the hkma has introduced new requirements on banks and issued guidelines on the selling of investment products. these include ( a ) requiring audio - recording the customer risk profile assessment and sales process to provide audit trails for reviews by banks and the regulators ; ( b ) implementing a pre - investment cooling - off period in the sale of unlisted structured products to less sophisticated customers ( such as the elderly or first - time buyer ) ; and ( c ) requiring banks to carry out continuous reviews of product risk and inform investors of any upward changes to the risk ratings of the products they have purchased. these requirements were in addition to existing measures introduced by the hong kong securities and futures commission ( sfc ) on the supervision of securities companies ’ selling activities. second, the hkma is active in monitoring banks ’ compliance with these and other regulatory requirements through thematic on - site examinations. banks are expected to have control processes and procedures in place to ensure adherence to the conduct regulations. in addition, to monitor compliance levels among banking staff, the hkma conducts mystery shopping trips. third, the hkma has strengthened consumer protection by working with partners. one example is our work with the hong kong association of banks in carrying out a comprehensive review of credit card practices in hong kong, drawing on reforms undertaken in the uk and us. as a result, we have been rolling out in stages 31 measures aimed at promoting fair and responsible business practices by credit card issuers, and all these will become effective by 2013. a second example is our partnership with the financial services and the treasury bureau and the securities and futures commission to establish the financial dispute resolution centre. the objective is to help consumers settle monetary disputes quickly by means of mediation and arbitration. the centre came into operation in june this year. bis central bankers ’ speeches the hkma & consumer education on consumer education the hkma has also been very active. from time to time, we publish articles, called “ insight articles ”, to increase consumers ’ awareness of their rights and obligations in relation to particular consumer products like accumulators, octopus cards and instalment payment plans. we also highlight key features and risks of certain investment products, and remind consumers not to invest if they do not understand a

were draws on liquidity commitments to structured investment vehicles and commercial paper conduits, and when banks faced difficulty selling exposures in illiquid markets. when there is a marketwide scramble for liquidity, a bank must be prepared to manage funding challenges and unplanned asset expansions simultaneously. developing a strong strategic risk management framework that recognizes the vital importance of funding and liquidity to both sides of the balance sheet is one way in which directors and senior management can help ensure that their institutions are ready for such outcomes. they should also ensure that they fully understand that funding and liquidity issues will drive many of the activities in which they will be able to engage, something to which i will now turn. choice of financial services activities while the financial landscape is by no means settled, certain emerging trends will affect which activities make sense, which exposures should be assumed, and which risks should be undertaken. one immediate trend is that much of the future of business activities of banking organizations will be driven by the increased focus on funding and liquidity. accordingly, this trend must be integrated into a strategic risk management framework. for instance, there may be less opportunity to pursue activities that were quite prolific under the previous " originate - to - distribute " model, such as securitizations, given current disruptions or longer - term uncertainties about the reliability of market liquidity. for similar reasons, other activities, such as investing in collateralized debt obligations or structured investment vehicles – which typically relied on relatively easy maturity transformation – may not be as viable in this new environment. whether transactions take place on an organized exchange or in the so - called over the counter market is another important aspect of the strategic risk management choices undertaken by an organization. when contracts are traded on an exchange, clearing and settlement, for example, may have less uncertainty associated with them. in addition, an exchange that has a centralized counterparty – perhaps the clearinghouse of the exchange – can reduce uncertainty about counterparty risk and help to avoid market dislocations that can arise from such uncertainty, not only for an individual firm but, potentially, more broadly in that market. thus, market infrastructure and its impact on how organizations are connected to each other can have a large impact on market confidence in times of stress. of course, we have seen that uncertainty, fear, and lack of trust among key counterparties can dramatically affect trading in some products across markets in many countries, again an example of the impact of interconnected