This is what I called a "Financing Union for Investment and Innovation", notably to shore up equity, which is the key to an innovation economy. The aim is crystal clear: within a Monetary and Banking Union, a cross-border merger must not be more difficult and cumbersome than a “domestic” merger. Several levers must be pulled if the obstacles to these activities are to be removed. From a supervisory point of view, this involves promoting a consolidated approach by granting more waivers on liquidity and capital so as to allow more flexible capital allocation and limit ring-fencing. From a resolution point of view, internal MREL requirements should be a tool to facilitate the resolution of institutions, but they would become meaningless if calculated on a national basis. They must be calculated at the level of the Banking Union, considered as a unique jurisdiction. Indeed, compartmentalising an internal MREL within national borders would be an obstacle to the single market and European banking crossborder mergers. As a first concrete step, I suggest that the European Banking Authority publish a comprehensive stock-taking of all the regulatory and supervisory obstacles to cross-border activities and mergers. *** Conclusion: Banks must be prepared for these extreme situations because: -  There is no such thing as zero risk, despite the improvements to prudential regulations and the reinforcement of banks' financial capacity. -  The failure of a single participant, even one considered to be secondary, can have systemic effects, as even the largest groups are now no longer immune.

Hence, you need to raise the profile of the career in the insurance industry collectively, to attract the best and the brightest. With the right human capital, the industry will be better placed to capitalise on Asia's growth prospects. There is also a dearth of underwriting capacity in the region for some specialised risks, for example aviation, energy, political and terrorism risks, to name a few. MAS will explore ideas to enhance our competitiveness to encourage such risks to be underwritten in Singapore. We welcome feedback and suggestions. Specialisation and new techniques We recognise the importance of ancillary service providers within the insurance ecosystem, and believe that increased usage of specialised service providers can make our insurers more competitive. Singapore's existing infrastructure, political and economic environment is conducive for such service providers to thrive in, and we will enhance the business case with initiatives to help reduce the cost of operating in Singapore. Examples of specialised service providers include run-off management and related services, claims management and processing services, loss adjusting services and policy administration services, amongst others. 2  BIS Review 103/2006  Another new technique that can enhance insurers' competitiveness is insurance-linked securitisation, or ILS. ILS enables insurers to transfer risks to the capital market to strengthen their balance sheets. These securities also contribute to a more diverse and vibrant capital market. The global ILS market saw a record level of issuance in 2005, and 2006 looks set to exceed 2005.