between central banks and other regulatory authorities, within and across borders. indeed, cooperation, coordination and goodwill have become essential in the increasingly integrated system. such arrangements could include the more formal institutional arrangements for cooperation in surveillance efforts and crisis management, as well as the home - host arrangements for the supervision of international financial institutions, in supporting the early identification of risks and the pre - emptive interventions that need to be made. cross border surveillance in the asian region in particular has now been enhanced to ensure that information gaps are identified and that the mechanisms to facilitate information sharing are put in place. achieving effective inter - agency coordination between financial safety net participants also needs to be considered carefully in the context of crisis management. inevitably, the task of managing a financial crisis particularly in the areas of timely decision making, coordination and communication become much more complex when the functions of lender of last resort, bank supervision and deposit insurance are allocated to separate agencies, as each respective agency is accountable for discharging its own mandate having regard to its own inherent priorities. consequently, issues relating to information sharing, allocation of powers, responsibilities, accountability and coordination among the various agencies must be clearly and explicitly addressed at the outset. the legislative mandates would need to provide clear roles and responsibilities for each relevant authority. this will form the foundation for the adoption of an integrated and coordinated approach. the need for such coordinated action becomes particularly important in conditions of an imminent financial crisis. having in place a crisis management framework would allow for its prompt and effective implementation. the issues relating to the effective management of the inter - relationships between the safety net participants were brought to the forefront recently in the united kingdom, testing the framework in which the functions of lender of the last resort and the supervisory function are placed in separate entities. in comparison, when a single agent such as the central bank is entrusted with these respective functions, the interrelationship issue, as well as potential conflicts and trade - offs become internal and would be resolved across the organisation. it would nevertheless still need to rely on an adequate accountability regime among the respective departments or divisions that are responsible for each mandate. malaysia's own experience during the asian financial crisis exactly ten years ago allowed the central bank as a single regulator, to promptly respond to the liquidity and solvency issues that were confronting the financial system. the preemptive action that was supported by a comprehensive resolution programme significantly reduced the cost of the crisis on the financial system and the overall economy. more recently, the central banks

for more people and businesses, especially small businesses. however, interventions by an agent are what effectively connects points “ a ” and “ b ”. in a detariffed environment, the number and range of risk factors that determine insurance prices are expected to expand. consumers will also have more choice on the scope and level of protection that they purchase. agents, having both direct access to consumers, and intimate knowledge of an insurance provider ’ s underwriting considerations and products, are best placed to explain the insurance options that are available to the consumer and make recommendations on how to maximize the value of a purchase. a number of things will need to happen for agents to deliver on this expectation. first, agents will need to build their capacity to analyse consumer needs and risk profiles, and be able to match them efficiently to suitable products or combinations of products that are appropriate to the consumer. in practical terms, this has significant implications for the information systems that agencies need to develop and maintain, the training, development and recruitment programs that they have in place, and the kind of information and support that they need to secure from insurers to enable them to properly advise consumers. the role of agents is especially important for an orderly transition to a more liberalized environment. a deeper understanding of risks developed by agents can help address information gaps in the earlier stages of transition and prevent premiums from over or undershooting their technical levels. this in turn will reduce future volatility in premiums which is important to build confidence in the ability of insurers to meet their promises as expected. consumers should also be informed that in the first year of transition, they can continue to maintain the same motor insurance coverage at prevailing tariff - rates. this is to provide an opportunity for the public to familiarize themselves with new product options that will become available – a process that agents will play a key role in helping with. second, agents need to be able to provide higher and more unique value in their services, and they need to be able to do this in a highly flexible way. going forward, insurers are expected to leverage more extensively on direct channels to distribute their products and communicate with customers. with digitisation and other new technologies, not just in insurance but across all other financial and non - financial services, the costs of distribution and managing customer relationships can be greatly reduced with expanded reach. digitisation is also expected to give rise to new entrants into the insurance value - chain such as product aggregators,