Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and AFI successfully co-hosted a business conduct and consumer protection training program 24-27 June 2014 in Kuala Lumpur. The program provided an experience-sharing platform for policymakers to enhance their knowledge on the importance of upholding business conduct and consumer empowerment to sustain market confidence towards greater financial stability.

It convened 50 participants from 28 AFI member nations as well as representatives from PDR Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Representatives from the World Bank, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the Financial Services Consumer Panel of the UK, the Financial Services Board of South Africa, and Innovations for Policy Action and Consumers International also delivered presentations at the training session.

Key topical issues were covered from global perspectives and country experiences in putting in place effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks as well as financial literacy measures for the protection of financial consumers and the promotion of financial inclusion. Country sharing presentations were given by BNM, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador (BCR), Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Banco de la República de Colombia, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA).

“As central bankers, policymakers and regulators, we are entrusted with the core mandate of preserving monetary and financial stability and supporting medium and long-term economic growth,” said Mr. Marzunisham bin Omar, Assistant Governor at BNM. “To maintain public confidence in our organization, it is important to effectively deliver our mandates which include continued efforts to enhance business conduct and consumer protection.”

The event was the first of six financial inclusion capacity building programs scheduled to be organized under a joint BNM-AFI collaborative framework for capacity building signed last year between the leaders of both organizations.