We are the regulator for the financial institutions. We are not a consumer advocate. We look after consumer interests. I think that's the distinction between Mr. Lawford and ourselves.
We believe that this is going to be very good for consumers, and I'll give you just two examples. One is broad and the other one is very specific. One specific example is that one of the ways we disclose information to consumers is through information boxes. If you open your credit card application, you will find on the cover an information box that includes information such as the interest rate that's going to be applied, and other relevant information. One of the things that this government has done, that the bill has done, has to do with the information boxes. They will now be required for a much broader set of products and services so that consumers have an easier way to find the information when they are purchasing products from banks. That's very specific, and there are a number of very specific examples.
A much broader example of how this will be good for consumers involves the new principles. The legislation now includes five principles that will direct the banks in terms of how they need to conduct themselves with consumers. That means broader access to products, and the banks must treat consumers and the public fairly. A couple of times Mr. Lawford referred to Ireland and how well it treats its customers. Ireland is one of the countries that we will be looking at because they already have a principle-based approach, so perhaps the approach that Mr. Lawford is referring to is the approach that we will now be adopting in Canada, which is a principle-based approach.
We will be implementing these requirements, and we have spent quite a bit of time examining what's going to be required of us. I can say that it's much broader than what Mr. Lawford is perhaps referring to, because we see there are very small changes that have been made that will have a significant impact, we think, on consumers' interests. We are looking forward to implementing.