ethics. in advancing this endeavour, the fspb will promote, advocate and facilitate the identification, development and the adoption of professional and ethical standards across all sectors of the financial services industry. the primary purpose of such standards will be to clearly define the expected level of performance and ethical conduct that financial services professionals are required to achieve in the service of the public. it is particularly important that the standards are unambiguous about the values for the industry and its workforce. it would facilitate financial services practitioners to understand and embrace their professional obligations, and be held accountable for their own continuing professional development. bank negara malaysia and the securities commission malaysia believe that with its stature and global complexion, the fspb is well positioned to lead efforts aimed at raising the bar of bis central bankers ’ speeches professional and ethical standards including continuous professional development for across the financial services industry, thereby strengthening confidence in the industry and affirming the industry ’ s commitment to better serve public interest. its membership of eminent experts and financial practitioners from the united kingdom, europe, australia and asia provides a valuable global perspective that will enhance the relevance of the standards developed by the fspb and their universal application. the establishment of fspb also reflects the advancement and progress of the financial services industry in malaysia and the vision of its members to embrace and promote globally acceptable and applicable standards of professionalism, human capital development and ethical behaviour that will provide the much needed clarity to the public and the industry on what is expected of financial services practitioners. indeed, in moving forward, the emphasis on the development of human capital which includes elevating professionalism and ethical behaviour of financial services professionals is paramount. today, professionalism, ethics and the quality of human capital have become key drivers and enablers of change in the financial services industry. i would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the role of the asian institute of finance ( aif ). the idea of fspb culminated from engagements initiated by aif with the industry which was followed by a process of developing the conceptual framework to reflect the shared aspirations of the industry and the board of aif that has supported the establishment of fspb. i would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the participative role that the financial services industry would need to have in enabling fspb to meet its objectives. the value of the establishment of fspb lies in the role taken to develop professional and ethical standards that are relevant and practical, which could, subsequently, be

consumer education and protection measures have been implemented, which would also be applicable broadly to branchless banking related issues. a specific department known as consumer and market conduct department was established in 2006 to spearhead the initiatives. these initiatives included financial education at schools and for the general public ; greater disclosure requirements about the features of financial products and the associated risks ; the financial mediation bureau to provide an avenue for redress ; the credit counselling and debt management agency to assist individuals in financial distress ; and a public service centre at the central bank and all its branches to provide information and advice. the market conduct regulations also give the regulator powers to oversee fees and charges to ensure the quantum is reasonable for the services provided. these measures are broad enough to provide consumer protection in relation to branchless banking in general terms. however, they may be less effective in addressing some of the unique aspects of branchless banking, such as disputes with non - bank agents located in remote or rural locations. perhaps this forum could consider some of these aspects. collaboration in terms of sharing best practices, standards and regulations would reduce the cost as well as expedite the development of more inclusive financial sectors. we need to be mindful of the fact that for effective collaboration to take place, we must have common goals to bind our work. in this case, that common goal is the development of more inclusive financial sectors, by making available a broad range of financial services to the poor and micro enterprise segments of society and the economy, as well as those living in remote areas. before i conclude, let me again stress that the development of more inclusive financial sectors is an important objective, and as policymakers we need to pursue this without compromising on the prudential standards that sustain confidence in the financial system. branchless banking has tremendous potential to increase the outreach of financial services provided the different players and regulators are able to work within common regulatory framework. and finally that we must adopt a collaborative stance in pursuing this important global agenda which can make a real difference for the millions of people that remain caught in poverty. on behalf of bank negara malaysia i would also like to thank our principal facilitators for the workshop from the consultative group to assist the poor, the subject matter experts from world bank, the representatives from maxis communications malaysia and global exchange of philippines, and the representative from group speciale mobile association who joins us from london. i also welcome the participation of the alliance for financial inclusion in this forum, and we look forward to