at the end of the day, it is the depositor ’ s money that needs to be protected. in the case of insurance companies, it is the policyholder ’ s funds and in the case of the fiji national provident fund, it is the members ’ contributions. the supervisory regime must ensure that the monies of consumers are protected and their interests are safeguarded. for this reason, the reserve bank licenses, regulates and supervises a range of financial institutions. these include banks, credit institutions, insurance companies and the fiji national provident fund. in 2006, the world bank and the international monetary fund carried out a comprehensive health check of our financial institutions. they assessed our institutions to be sound and stable. financial instruments / services and products offered as you know, financial systems continue to change and adapt to new technologies and global developments. the use of debit cards and credit cards are now being extensively used and an increase in automated teller machines ( atms ) and electronic funds transfer at point of sale ( eftpos ) machines are widely available to the public. the innovation and financial products on branchless banking and electronic money, that is extending the bounds of normal banking in other countries, will see banks reaching areas beyond the towns and cities. banks using agent networks and even working with telecommunication companies to reach a wider spectrum of the population will no doubt bring consumer issues to the forefront. such innovations and financial products will require the approval of the reserve bank so that consumers ’ interests are safeguarded. financial disclosure let me say something about disclosure. at present, the reserve bank has in place a disclosure policy for commercial banks and licensed credit institutions whereby these institutions are required to disclose to the public their fees and charges and the products they offer. the consumers need to know the performances of these institutions and are able to make informed decisions about the institution. outreach we are also concerned with the current outreach of commercial banks and financial services to the wider community in fiji. this is one of the reasons why we issued a policy guideline early this year for the commercial banks to become more involved in the provision of microfinance to the non - bankable sections of our population. currently many of our people are disadvantaged and hence do not have access to financial services and products. in this regard, consumer education and financial literacy is very important. consumer education and financial literacy consumer education and financial literacy is the responsibility of all stakeholders ; the government, consumer advocates, the public and the private sector. this is an area

sada reddy : consumer - related issues in financial services opening speech by mr sada reddy, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the world consumer rights day celebration, suva, 13 april 2010. * * * honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you all. it gives me great pleasure to be here this morning to grace the opening of the world consumer rights day celebration. this month, consumers international celebrates its 50th birthday since its beginnings in march 1960. at that time, a group of consumer leaders met at the hague and signed papers to create the “ international organization of consumers union ( iocu ) ” giving birth to the global consumer movement. the organizations that signed the formation of the new body had a common desire and that was to help ordinary people make informed buying decisions and get value for their money. since those formative years, the consumer movement has grown from strength to strength. both its membership base and coverage of countries expanded. this, of course, includes the consumer council of fiji. the focus of the consumer movement broadened from its founding principles and today they address issues such as poverty reduction, corporate responsibility, services and sustainable consumption as well as advice on consumer products. i commend the consumers international for its work on consumer advocacy and take this time to wish the movement a happy 50th birthday. theme and implications for consumers the consumers international has chosen the theme “ our money, our rights ”. a theme, i feel is so befitting the times we are living in considering the recent global financial crisis and the continued fall out being felt from the crisis. i therefore wish to talk this morning on a number of issues that embraces this theme, in particular from the point of view of the financial system and our role as the regulator of fiji ’ s financial system. the questions consumers ask are ; this is our money and hence we have the right to its safety and security. this is our money and we have the right to reasonable and cost - effective services. these are important questions that should drive financial institutions behavior in terms of customer service. update on fiji ’ s economy ladies and gentlemen, before i touch on consumer related issues in terms of financial services, let me start by briefly providing an overview of the fiji economy since the time of the global financial crisis. there are now some positive signs emerging that the worst may be over but no doubt, the road to full recovery will be slow and very uncertain. the fiji economy was hit on two fronts