those savings to them, when they need them, on the terms agreed. in turn, credit institutions provide financing to customers, trusting that they will repay those funds on the terms agreed. likewise, customers conduct all their business with their banks because they trust them not to sell or reveal any information they have on them as customers. unfortunately, the bank crisis weakened the general public ’ s trust in credit institutions. some strategies followed by certain banks may have made them less customer - centric. i am thinking, for example, of the incentive schemes based, perhaps to excess, on growing business rather than incrementing customer loyalty. in addition, the lack of good practices in the selling of bank products and services has clearly played some part in this loss of trust. one of the most important future challenges we face is to restore and strengthen the industry ’ s reputation both with investors and customers. the first step to achieve this must be to make simplicity and accuracy a priority in all communications with customers. this includes aspects such as improving the language that is used in relations with customers, refining selling policies and promoting transparency. allow me, in conclusion, to expand on these points a little further. first, the use of language. the names and descriptions of bank products must not be misleading as to their return and risk characteristics, nor must they be used as misleading advertising tools. accordingly, terms that offer a false sense of security as to the return or interest that may be obtained must be avoided. the need to improve the use of language is even more pressing, bearing in mind that the dialogue between banks and their customers is not, shall we say, a dialogue between equals. in this respect, since 2008 both the banco de espana and the national securities market commission ( the cnmv ) have made great efforts with a view to improving financial knowledge among the general public through the financial education plan. the initiatives taken in this period, to cite just a couple, include the launch of the finance for all portal ( www. finanzasparatodos. com ) and the project to include financial education in the school syllabus. a second key aspect of this process is to improve selling practices. financial institutions have made advances in the service they offer and the resources they dedicate to the monitoring of regulatory compliance. but greater efforts are needed to ensure that bank customers – banks ’ main assets – are able to understand the terms of the transactions concerned ( clauses of agreements, the cost of services provided, etc. ).

monetary policy but all available measures. iv. concluding remarks i would like to conclude this speech by briefly touching on the economy of gunma prefecture. the pick - up in the prefecture ’ s economic activity has come to a pause, and its economy remains more or less unchanged, owing to the prolonged deceleration in overseas economies. compared with other prefectures in japan, however, economic conditions in the prefecture are favorable on the whole, led by a healthy transportation equipment industry. as for the outlook, gunma prefecture ’ s economy is likely to pick up moderately again as overseas economies start recovering and as exports increase. the prefecture enjoys a strong industrial foundation, with regional characteristics such as a very low vulnerability to natural disasters including earthquakes, bountiful water resources, and good access to the tokyo metropolitan area. due mainly to vigorous promotion by the prefectural government and cities of the advantages of gunma prefecture as a convenient site for corporate back - up facilities, the number and area size of new factories in the prefecture have reached the highest levels in japan for the past several years. furthermore, gunma prefecture has great potential in the area of tourism. the prefecture enjoys ample resources including rich natural surroundings such as the famous oze marsh, historic and cultural assets such as the tomioka silk mill – which has applied to join the world heritage list – and the major hot spring resorts of kusatsu, minakami, ikaho, and shima. regional efforts have been made to attract more tourists to the prefecture from all over japan and abroad. i hope that these and other efforts will promote even further the development of tourism in gunma prefecture. bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches