means, it is the customers ’ responsibility also to provide relevant, complete and accurate information on their financial situation and taking their personal as well as financial circumstances into account when making their decisions. the responsibility of the financial service provider may, therefore, be read and assessed in the light of the customer ’ s responsibilities. financial service providers need to understand that for their businesses to survive, their customers ’ must survive and for that, they need to understand the appropriateness of the products themselves to be able to explain it to their customers. the financial entities must not use the vulnerable sections to cross - subsidize the clientele with power to bargain and command a price of their choice. the reasonableness of service charges / interest rates must be ensured by way of commitment to the cause of financial inclusion. further, the service charges / penalties must not be disproportionate to the level of default. the bundling of products by banks with a view to generate more non - interest income would fall in the category of exploitative pricing. every bank / financial service provider, in order to expand its customer base, needs to understand the requirements of their customers, the risks involved and return to be achieved. the usa, which was affected the most by the crisis, had, in the aftermath of the crisis, initiated exemplary policy and other structural reforms to guard against financial instability ( dodd – frank wall street reform and customer protection act ). among the measures initiated, the customer protection aspect had received prime attention resulting in enactment bis central bankers ’ speeches of customer protection act and creation of customer financial protection bureau ( cfpb ) to assure that markets for financial products and services worked in a fair, transparent, and competitive manner and were subject to meaningful and consistent oversight. in india, setting up of financial stability and development council has also been with a similar view to strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stability by way of macro - prudential supervision together with focus on developmental aspects of customer protection, viz. financial literacy and financial inclusion. where the banking ombudsman comes in the role of the ombudsmen adjudicating financial consumer disputes is onerous and the recent upheavals in the market place have only heightened the consumers ’ expectations. the existence of a legal framework is a must for consumer protection. the ombudsmen, by definition, deal with individual grievances about which the common person is agitated. they cannot substitute effective legal and regulatory systems. expecting

say from a central bank ’ s perspective : the main requirement for financial systems is generally that central bank measures be transmitted via the system as smoothly as possible to the goods and labour markets. a central bank must know the transmission channels of its measures. we in europe are engaging in an essential learning process. we must therefore keep a constant and watchful eye on the remaining differences within the euro area. and we have to be aware of the structural and behavioural changes in the financial systems. further, one has to ensure that the signals set by monetary policy makers are “ properly ” understood by the market players. this is, of course, primarily the responsibility of the central bank itself : we have to pursue a comprehensible strategy and explain our decisions appropriately. in the eurosystem, monetary policy continues to be oriented towards keeping the expansion of the money stock in line with the real growth potential of the economy. this makes our actions calculable. it minimises uncertainty about price and interest - rate movements. in this way, we can greatly help to undermine a major potential cause of instability in the financial system. the second strategic pillar is the appraisal of inflation prospects, using a broad range of real economic and financial indicators. at this juncture, allow me to repeat my point as clearly as i can : the final goal of european monetary policy is to ensure price stability. that is to say, to safeguard an inflation rate in the euro area of less than 2 % per annum. it should not be doubted that the external value of the euro plays an important part in the attainment of that objective. insofar, there is no such thing as “ benign ” neglect - neglect is always “ malign ”. price stability will eventually help the euro to attain a greater role as an international reserve and investment currency as well. such a role will not only be in keeping with the sheer economic weight of the euro area. it will also reflect the high degree of external integration in the global financial and product markets. v. globalisation, technological progress, competition and european monetary union : ladies and gentlemen, these well - known buzz - words have all figured several times in my opening remarks. in the context of monetary policy, and of the responsibility for stable financial systems, these words do indeed have far - reaching implications. i hope that i have been able to bring it home to you once again : further, major structural changes lie ahead. these changes and advances in the financial system