Never Waste a Crisis

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning"-Henry Ford The 2011 Occupy Wall Street Movement, a mini-revolution that continues to this day, is standing testimony to the above fact. In fact, the last decade has seen large scale upheavals in global banking and financial systems the world over. Whether the subprime crisis of 2007/8 in the United States, 2010 Indian microfinance crisis in Andhra Pradesh (AP) or the recent (2018) damning revelations of huge scams and crisis in India's financial sector, the global financial system at large continues to be in the throes of a credibility crisis. What must banks and financial institutions do to win the trust of the public? How should their governance, risk management, compensation and audit practices undergo reform so that they win the confidence of the people? How can the existing regulatory and supervisory paradigm be changed to make it more robust and devoid of conflicts of interest so that it ensures stability, security and inclusiveness in the financial system? As a financial sector development and technology professional-who accurately predicted the 2010 Indian micro-finance crisis in AP-Ramesh S Arunachalam, with close to 30 years of multi-country diverse financial sector experience, is uniquely placed to provide a pragmatic perspective to the current disturbing scenario. He delves into the causative factors and also delineates practical remedial measures that can not only restore public faith in the larger financial ecosystem (including its regulatory and supervisory paradigm) but also contribute to making it more stable, secure and inclusive.