Vision 2: Develop competitive, efficient, stable, and balanced financial system, capable of servicing the sophisticated and unsophisticated users; and,
Vision 3: Ensure fairness and protection for customers whereby financial institutions must abide by good corporate governance standard, and consumers receive adequate information and advice from various financial institutions to make informed investment decisions.
III. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Core Reform Measure Supporting Reform Measures • Rationalize structure of the financial system • Improve basic infrastructure of the financial system • Improve competitiveness of individual financial institution • Remove regulatory impediments to financial sector development • Improve systemic efficiency through strengthening of market-based mechanisms
Core Reform Measures Rationalize Structure of the Financial System
The core recommendation serves the fulfillment of Vision 1 and 2 since it entailed extensive wholesale reorientation of the financial system to better service both the underserved and modern sector.
Vision 1: Provide Financial Service to All Economically Viable Users
Rural Low-income
A. Creation of APEX institutions to provide support and improve operations of indigenous community savings and microfinance groups in the rural area. Unbeknownst to the general public, there already exist many organic savings groups in Thailand that came about in response to communities’ unanswered financial needs. Yet although these groups are successful in providing basic lending and deposit services to members, their sustainability is uncertain due to inadequate management and liquidity support i.e. clear and established operational procedures, and access to low-cost sources of fund. Thus it was believed that the establishment of an umbrella APEX organization may be able to help indigenous financial groups continue provide much needed financial services to their community.
This assumption was bolstered by the fact that APEX organizations in other countries have proven to be successful in empowering community savings groups. Studies revealed that previous APEX organizations were able to remedy limitations of local savings groups by acting as the intermediary matching liquid savings and microfinance groups with illiquid ones; benchmarking member group’s credit