the most depressing aspect of past fx abuse was the light it threw on historic behaviour in parts of the market, called a ‘ bro - culture ’ by some, 3 in which inappropriate, sometimes illegal, behaviour became the norm through a process of what we termed in femr ‘ ethical drift ’. groups calling themselves the ‘ a - team ’, the ‘ 3 musketeers ’ or ( perhaps more aptly ) the ‘ semi - grumpy old men ’ attempted to pervert the multi - trillion dollar foreign exchange market on which everyone in the world in one way or another depended. for some of those active in the industry at that time, the culture from which this extreme behaviour emerged may have seemed wearingly familiar. lucy kellaway, writing in the ft, described the toxic male environment she experienced on an fx trading floor early in her career. 4 though many men were ( and are ) equally https : / / www. globalfxc. org / membership. htm https : / / www. globalfxc. org / global _ index. htm https : / / www. ft. com / content / 62001b10 - 90de - 11e8 - 9609 - 3d3b945e78cf https : / / www. ft. com / content / 511ad09e - 6be2 - 11e4 - b939 - 00144feabdc0 all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx disgusted by such behaviour, it is unlikely to have been helped by the gender balance in the market. the 2016 gadhia review5 showed that, whilst women actually outnumbered men 60 / 40 in financial services as a whole, they were much less likely to be the managers or leaders who shaped the culture ( figure 1 ). and even when they were leaders, they were three times more likely to be running hr, communications or other support functions than serving in c - suite positions ( figure 2 ). figure 1 : average representation of women in financial services in 20 global markets figure 2 : proportion of executive committee functions held by women https : / / uk. virginmoney. com / virgin / assets / pdf / virgin - money - empowering - productivity - report. pdf all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches

further tripled. these dynamic changes have made financial literacy among women even more vital. indeed, against these favourable trends, there has been a growing participation of women in the growth and development process in asia. in particular, there has been a strong migration from the informal to the formal sector, following the modernisation and industrialisation process. the increase in the relative significance of the financial sector in most asian economies can be seen in terms of the momentum in the financialisation of savings and the increase in the volume of financial transactions being conducted through the formal financial sector. these trends are being reinforced by the shift of activities that is taking place from the traditional sectors to the industrial and services sectors. on average, the industrial and services sector now accounts for 74 % of the economy in asia, compared to 60 % in 1980. in contrast, agriculture now accounts for 12 %, compared to 26 % in 1980. involved in this transformation, women have demonstrated a high degree of mobility, participating in all segments of economic activity. most discernable is the increasing participation of women in the services sector. here in hong kong, the percentage of women in the services sector relative to the total population increased from 43 % in 1980 to 87 % in 1999. similarly in indonesia, the rise was from 32 % to 42 %, and in malaysia, it was from 33 % to 57 % and in thailand, from 18 % to 34 %. in asia, the demographic structure also reinforces the economic potential of asia. the population in asia continues to grow at a relatively high and stable rate to account for more than half the world ’ s population. of significance is the relatively young demographic structure in asia. more than 50 % of women fall in the age group 15 to 49 years, similar to that for men. this demographic structure thus not only contributes to enhance the potential of the economy but combined with rising incomes and improved standards of living, has resulted in increases in consumption spending. this resultant increase in purchasing power has strengthened domestic demand, making it an important driver of growth in the asian economies. indeed, these trends have strengthened the sustainability of consumption - based growth. as part of this process, women have become an important consumer target group with enhanced purchasing power. in fact, in several of the asian economies, women are emerging as a key target market. this greater capacity for earning, spending, saving and investing requires ability for financial management, and hence the urgency for greater financial literacy. while financial literacy is important, regardless of