'Good ethics in financial ecosystem must be rewarded'

The rules of the financial ecosystem should ensure that ethical behaviour is rewarded and unscrupulous actions are penalised, says the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah.

Making this call at the Asian Finance Forum 2012 here Tuesday, Raja Nazrin said information asymmetries should not be exploited to boost revenue by selling consumers products that are clearly unsuitable for them.

"Regulators and policymakers should be more willing to make difficult decisions to correct excess and exuberance when they begin to appear," he said.

He said the existing system should be restructured where necessary to halt the socially damaging privatisation of gains and externalisation of losses.

"This increase in regulatory discipline should be met by heightened self-discipline. Decisions should be driven by the need to do the right thing, not just to do things right."