respect by the consolidated law on finance. the mandatory nature of the passivity rule has to be confirmed and there must be strict and extremely limited conditions for invoking the reciprocity clause. finally, considering the importance of shareholder agreements in the control of italian corporations, the law transposing the directive should confirm shareholders ’ right to withdraw from such pacts in the case of a takeover bid. in other countries pension funds, along with other institutional investors, help to ensure the efficiency and the liquidity of the financial markets. they stimulate innovation and competition between intermediaries, they increase the resources available to firms in the form of equity and bond issues, and they exercise continuous monitoring of the strategy of listed companies, to the benefit of the transparency and quality of corporate governance. the relative underdevelopment of pension funds in italy is an impediment to the growth of the financial system and to the restructuring of the productive economy. bringing forward the entry into force of the new retirement system rules to this year has been a step in the right direction. enrolment in supplementary pension plans is low especially among the groups whose public pensions are likely to be smallest – self - employed workers, young people and women, all penalized by the greater variability and discontinuity of their earnings. these workers must be offered pension plans that afford ample freedom in determining contribution flows and facilitate totalization and the portability of contributions, including those paid in different phases of one ’ s career, from one form of retirement saving to another. the possibility of enjoying the advantages of supplementary pension plans should be extended to public employees. the investment of severance pay in supplementary pension plans can bring substantial benefits for workers. accumulation over a considerable time horizon is necessary in order to reach pensions of adequate size. on the financial markets investment strategies can be used to obtain, with limited risks, real rates of return in line with or higher than those delivered by the revaluation of severance pay funds. over long time horizons higher rates of return can be achieved through investment in equities, though at the cost of additional risk. according to recent surveys, workers continue to overestimate the amount of their future pensions by a large measure and are still poorly informed about supplementary pension schemes. it is their right to get clear, regular and complete reports on their accumulated position in their compulsory pension system ; the experience of other countries, especially sweden, is enlightening in this regard. it is necessary to increase workers ’

responsive plans. this is a first step for thailand. given the borderless cyber world, collaboration on cyber security among asean countries needs to be enhanced. asean banks have to step up efforts and join hands in setting up processes and tools for sharing cybersecurity incidents, exchange of information and knowledge, conducting cyber attack exercises, and developing cyber security experts. secondly, there has to be sufficient immunity against the boom and bust of financial cycle. we have seen many financial crises over the years. the global financial crisis, whose total magnitude of economic costs are still being tallied is the latest example. as the financial cycle is one of the main drivers of financial instability, taking action to counteract pro - cyclical behaviours and reduce potential systemic risk build - up is necessary. the basel iii framework of pro - cyclical capital buffer and systemically important financial institutions ( sifis ) capital surcharge are among the first initiatives by a global standard setter. having good buffers in place will provide the financial system with an immunity against the large swing of financial cycle and financial volatility, as going forward, the potential of policy normalization in advanced economies and yield snapback could trigger capital reversal and foreign exchange liquidity squeeze in many emerging countries. changes in regulations and a greater emphasis on financial stability by policy makers, however, is only half of the solution. equally important are the roles of commercial bankers who contribute directly to the stability of the financial system. banks need to remain vigilant and look through the cycle while assessing credit risk and building up buffers. buffers such as provisions and capital have to be built - up during good times to absorb any losses during rough times. in short, decisions need to be based more on long - term views rather than short term views. basing decisions on long - term views is an important factor for commercial banks ’ practices. during periods of low growth and low yield, banks should refrain from unsound search - for - yield behaviours or facilitating aggressive search - for - yield behaviours that could build - up systemic risk and cause financial instability. thirdly, behaviour and culture within financial institutions must gear towards good governance, soundness, and sustainability to pre - empt unwarranted risks. during the last asian and global financial crisis, excessive risk - taking behaviour was one key driver. short - sighted views on risk were embedded in the practice of management and employees. this was defined and reflected in the structure on rewards,