Finding that consumer protection has attained “significant” importance after the global financial crisis, Doha Bank has said there is a need to move from de-regulation to re-regulation and improve risk, governance and reporting requirements for customers’ benefit.Doha Bank Group CEO R Seetharaman made the clarion call on Monday as he explained the global and regional regulatory developments in banking and financial sector at a knowledge sharing session ‘Customer Advantage in the Contemporary Financial Market’.“G20 and other global organisations are working on various measures to protect the consumer such as common principles of consumer protection, improving disclosure requirements and stronger oversight regimes for credit rating agencies,” he said, adding credit bureau and other regulations in Qatar were introduced for the benefit of customers. Highlighting the proactive measures taken by Qatar’s government to monitor and manage the crisis and its impact on customer confidence, Seetharaman said $1.8bn worth of local Qatari banks’ portfolios of local shares listed on the Qatar Exchange and $4.12bn of banks’ real estate investments were bought by the sovereign.“These measures were adopted by Qatari government to improve the consumer confidence in banking industry and to manage the systemic risks as well. It has also enhanced the ability of banks to cope with any possible repercussions of the global financial crisis,” he said.Robert Monroe, associate dean, Carnegie Mellon University spoke on technology trends and its impact on customers. He said smart phones, social network and media and public information can be used to improve the communication process to customers.Highlighting the advantages to customer focusing on insurance-cross selling and convergence, Clive Weatherley, executive manager, Doha Bank Assurance Company, said DBAC is willing to provide risk advisory services to the bank customers and illustrated various risk factors applicable to corporate and small and medium enterprises.Omar Mahmood, partner- Financial Services, KPMG Qatar, said the accounting standard setting bodies reacted to protect a range of stakeholder needs including those of the customers.“The core concepts of customer needs remains the same however the accounting and regulatory framework is getting realigned to this need in the light of the crisis,” he said, adding regulators are increasing their oversight on auditors after the crisis.