we are actively considering, in terms of whether choices are being well explained, or well understood, or are really adding value. empowering consumers to make informed choice so, what is required to ensure consumers are empowered to make informed choices in a world of increasing choice and complexity? at the central bank we would see three complementary aspects necessary to ensure consumers are well equipped to make decisions in their own best interest. to be informed you need information of course – but that is not enough : that information needs to be presented in a way that seeks to effectively inform consumers – meaning it needs to be clear and easy to understand ; consumers on the other hand need to be equipped with sufficient financial literacy to be able to use that information effectively ; and consumers themselves must also take on the responsibility to inform themselves – including reasonable time and care to read and understand information, to ensure they are making decisions in their own best interests. in terms of informing effectively, new standard for business in the revised consumer protection code should make firms'obligations clearer in this regard. these will place a duty on financial services firms to consider their overall approach to communicating consumer information, to make sure it supports consumers to make effective, timely and informed decisions. a firm's overall approach should not be about simply'providing information'to meet their regulatory disclosure obligations, but should also be about ensuring practical understanding by the consumer, so that they can take decisions that are in their best interests. in terms of financial literacy, we very much welcome and will support the government's national financial literacy strategy. along with the government, the hia, the competition and consumer protection commission and other stakeholders, we are keen to play our role in developing and implementing initiatives that seek to improve the overall level of financial literacy of irish citizens, and to provide valuable information for consumers to understand and to compare financial products. while this will take time to produce results, it is a key means of empowering consumers to make the right choices. once equipped by firms with the right information, in the right way, and once equipped with the financial literacy to understand and assess that information, then it is up to consumers themselves to sufficiently inform themselves and to make their own decisions. how the central bank is strengthening its approach consumer protection 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches i spoke earlier of the increasingly complex and interconnected financial sector, the growing pace of digitalisation and the development of new, innovative business models. all of this is reshaping the risk context of the

objective of mitigating risks to financial stability. they complement monetary policy in two key ways. 8 first they can be used to target regional imbalances, which is crucial in jurisdictions like the euro area where monetary policy decisions are taken for the area as a whole. second, while monetary policy affects all segments of the economy, macroprudential policies can be used to temper sector - specific imbalances in a more granular manner. looking to more recent irish history, our own experience shows very clearly why both dimensions are important. we have seen the damage that can result from loose financing conditions and excessive leverage, and our economists in the bank have published a body of analytical work confirming this. the research shows a positive relationship between higher loan - to - value and loan - to - income ratios and subsequent mortgage defaults. it also shows a relationship between higher loan - to - value ratios and banks ’ losses from defaults. 9 the evidence highlights that lending at high multiples of income was one of the main causes of ( 2004 ), “ financial liberalisation and economic growth in ireland ”, central bank of ireland quarterly bulletin, autumn 2004. bernanke, ben and mark gertler ( 1999 ), “ monetary policy and asset price volatility. ” in new challenges for monetary policy, 77 – 128. proceedings of the federal reserve bank of kansas economic symposium, jackson hole, wyoming, august 26 – 28. jorda, oscar, alan taylor and moritz schularick, ( 2016 ), “ the great mortgaging : housing finance, crises and business cycles ”, economic policy 2016 pp. 107 – 152. see, for example, bordo, michael d. and olivier jeanne, ( 2002 ) “ monetary policy and asset prices : does “ benign neglect ” make sense? ”, international finance, 5 ( 2 ) : 139 – 64. this follows the so - called ‘ tinbergen rule ’ ( see tinbergen, jan, ( 1952 ), “ on the theory of economic policy ”, north - holland pub. co., holland ). they also complement existing microprudential supervision and banks ’ own risk management practices. see hallissey, niamh, robert kelly and terry o ’ malley ( 2014 ), “ macro - prudential tools and credit risk of property lending of irish banks ”, central bank of ireland, economic letter vol. 2014, no. 10, or mccarthy, yvonne ( 2014 ),