It is not as big as the RCEP but TPP-11 will eliminate most existing tariffs among the eleven economies across Asia and Latin America, simplify customs procedures, and introduce strong provisions to boost modern services and a digital economy. Trade and investment linkages between China and ASEAN, in particular, are deep and have been growing over the years. Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN has increased by an average 13% per annum since 2005. 2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  China is ASEAN’s top trading partner and third-largest source of foreign direct investment. In short, the fundamentals for growth in ASEAN and China are strong. And if we can deepen and broaden the integration between our two regions, it will help soften the impact of external trade protectionsim and sustain Asia’s dynamism and long term growth. Key Achievements of the CCI Against this broader imperative to strengthen trade and investment connectivity between China and ASEAN, the CCI has made good progress. Mayor Tang has highlighted the key achievements of CCI. Let me highlight just a few examples which may be of interest to our friends from China here. Chinese firms continue to benefit from raising capital in Singapore’s financial centre. As of August this year, 51 CCI qualifying cross-border financing deals worth $ billion have been completed. The scope of cross-border financial services has extended beyond Chongqing to other parts of Western China, and new channels for cross-border financing have opened up.

These two factors, i.e. price volatility over the financial cycle and the limits of quantitative techniques highlight a number of divergences between internal risk management and fair value accounting. More generally, the application of accounting rules, which give the value of a company or activity at a given moment, does not always allow the forward-looking valuation of financial instruments or sound risk management practices. Yet these aspects are important for prudential authorities. Conversely, choices in terms of prudential regulation can have an impact on financial stability when they interact with certain accounting rules. For instance, the hitherto favourable treatment given by prudential rules to the trading book has without doubt encouraged behaviour aimed at generating very shortterm profits via transactions booked at market value. Like me you will have noted that, in their press release in November, the G20 Heads of State and Government gave particular attention to accounting issues. The work programme they have assigned to ministers and experts addresses several areas. It is aimed at "harmonising accounting standards, particularly for complex instruments, during times of stress". It also aims to "address weaknesses in accounting and disclosure standards for off-balance sheet  2  BIS Review 160/2008  vehicles". Lastly, it aims to "enhance the required disclosure of complex financial instruments by firms". The Heads of State and Government have assigned an ultimate objective to accounting standard setters, i.e. the creation of a "single high-quality global standard". It is striking that the attention given to accounting issues is linked to financial stability considerations.