##utable and responsible manner, there are a few that adopt questionable industry practices, oft - times exploiting the antiquated and grossly inadequate insurance legislation. as an example, in order to capture market share, some companies are prepared to under – price premiums, while operating with inadequate claims reserves. consequently, these companies face serious problems in meeting consumer claims. as a result, the bulk of the insurance complaints reaching the ombudsman are for unfair bis central bankers ’ speeches claims practices such as ; forcing legitimate claims to litigation ; under - payment of claims and unreasonable delays in paying claims. the new insurance act, which is currently before parliament, will seek to address this issue by requiring that every insurance company involved in general insurance carry a full - time actuary who will certify the adequacy of claims reserves. i would like to provide some thoughts about the way forward for the ombudsman scheme, but i would like to couch these against the background of the new global approach to financial sector stability espoused by the foremost authority on these matters – the group of g20 finance ministers and central bank governors. this approach says that traditional regulatory and supervisory frameworks adopted by oversight bodies are not sufficient for financial stability but rather should be complemented by “ strengthened, dedicated and proportionate policy action geared to enhance financial consumer protection ”. the g20 explains that the enhanced focus on consumer protection is made necessary by the increased complexity of financial products and rapid technological change, all against the background of the prevailing low level of financial literacy. the g20 emphasizes that these factors could increase the risk that consumers face with respect to fraud, abuse and misconduct. in particular, low income and less experienced consumers are more prone to these risks. in these circumstances, the g20 suggest that financial consumer protection should be integrated with financial literacy policies. the group calls for, inter alia, legal recognition of consumer financial protection, oversight bodies with the necessary authority and resources to carry out their mission, improved financial education, and adequate complaints handling and redress mechanisms. the g20 makes a number of specific recommendations but cautions that the approach should be tailored to the specific country circumstances. against this background, i would like to make three suggestions for upgrading our existing regime of financial consumer protection. firstly, it is time that the existing voluntary ombudsman regime be enshrined into law. while the voluntary arrangement confirmed the “ buy - in ” by the financial services firms, it limited

njuguna ndung ’ u : compilation and harmonization of monetary and financial statistics in the east african community remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the opening of the workshop on the harmonization of monetary and financial statistics in the east african community, nairobi, 29 march 2011. * * * mr. b. rajcoomar, chief of financial institutions division, imf ; mr. jaroslav kucera, senior economist, imf ; mr. thomas morrison, eddi project manager, imf ; mr. robert maate, senior statistician eac secretariat ; distinguished participants ; ladies and gentlemen ; i welcome you all to kenya and to this very important workshop on the compilation and harmonization of monetary and financial statistics in the east african community ( eac ). i thank you all for attending this workshop. ladies and gentlemen, this workshop is taking place at a critical stage in the integration process of the eac and monetary and financial statistics play a critical role. this will support the institutions to be formed under the regional integration process. previous milestones achieved comprise of the establishment of an eac customs union and the launch of the common market protocol. these developments, ladies and gentlemen, underscore the need for a statistical harmonization framework and related capacity building strategies for the region. the success of the regional integration initiative is anchored on a number of convergence criteria that require information and analysis : in this regard, the computation, concepts, definitions and methods used in compiling the indicators that determine the convergence criteria must be understood, harmonized and consistent across all partner states. furthermore, since the eac regional integration initiative envisages a centralized approach to the policy making process, it has to be anchored on appropriate and adequate indicators and centralized statistical information. thus the harmonization of monetary and financial statistics, among other statistics, will be critical for policy formulation and implementation within the eac region. in fast - tracking the process of statistical harmonization among the partner states, the eac central bank governors recently approved the hiring of short - term consultants from among partner states. i am aware that the consultants have begun work and we believe this workshop has come at the most appropriate time so as to complement their efforts. ladies and gentlemen, towards this end, i want to thank the international monetary fund ( imf ) for the technical assistance they continue to provide in the development and harmonization of statistics, in the eac region