. the finance minister of germany proposed a sort of “ quid pro quo ” between edis and the sovereign exposure of the banks. these are elements that we have to explore, but the important issue is to take steps in the right direction in 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches order to complete the banking union and to try to bridge the stalemate of sorts that we now have in europe on how to complete banking union. i would also like to stress the importance of the capital markets union. the capital markets union is going to be key, mainly because of the brexit disturbance. we need to have much more profound, deeper and more liquid capital markets in europe. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

financial services, i believe that more needs to be done to empower consumers in their dealings with financial services firms. improving financial literacy is an integral part of the consumer protection agenda. international financial literacy studies indicate that a majority of the world population do not have sufficient knowledge to understand even basic financial products and fail to make effective decisions to manage their finances and the risk associated with them. the oecd and g20 have advised that this needs to be undertaken through nationally coordinated and tailored approaches. 18 at the central bank, we know we need to deliver effective protection for consumers of financial products and services in a rapidly evolving financial services landscape. it is our responsibility to respond to emerging threats, to be vigilant to evolving potential threats and to be proactive in tackling risks to consumers. looking ahead, consumers would benefit from simpler products for example in the areas of pensions and health insurance. in the insurance sector, work needs to be done to attain the goal of consistent supervisory standards across europe and to coordinate the various national protection schemes for policyholders. finally, the technological innovations that bring the potential benefits of lower costs, speed, automation and convenience for consumers also pose some challenges for regulators in relation to consumer protection. our focus is on ensuring that the appropriate frameworks are in place so that firms must take the best interests of consumers into account in their design, operation and monitoring of online distribution and automated advice channels. furthermore, given the scope for online distribution channels to foster cross - border trade in financial services, it is essential that the legislative framework fosters internationalisation without compromising consumer protection. acknowledgements : i thank mary canniffe, yvonne mccarthy and helena mitchell for their inputs into this speech. references badarinza, c., campbell, j. y. and ramadorai, t. ( 2016 ). international comparative household finance, annual review of economics, 8, pp. 111 – 144. benartzi, s., and thaler, r. h. ( 2001 ). naive diversification strategies in defined contribution savings plans. american economic review, 91 ( 1 ), 79 – 98. campbell, john y., howell e. jackson, brigitte c. madrian and peter tufano ( 2016 ), “ consumer financial protection, ” journal of economic perspectives 25 ( 1 ), 91 – 114. campbell, john y. ( 2016 ), “ restoring rational choice : the challenge of consumer financial regulation, ” american economic review : papers & proceedings