Similarly, the insurance and risk management markets will have to be developed further to meet corporate and individual needs. There is already a momentum, with capital markets in China, India and ASEAN economies developing well. In bigger economies, micro-finance, mobile finance and rural finance are also being developed. Cross-border financial activities within Asia are also showing signs of increase. These are positive changes, as the development of a deep and integrated financial system provides a vital support for structural adjustments in the region. Economic and financial linkages between France and Singapore Let me now say a few words on how Singapore is responding to these challenges, and how the French business and financial community can collaborate with those in Singapore to promote growth in Asia. The Singapore government has set up an Economic Strategies Committee to identify policy changes to strengthen Singapore’s value as a vibrant global economic node in the heart of Asia. Singapore’s connectivity enables it to facilitate the flow of goods, services, capital and ideas. The value of Singapore as a stable, trusted hub that respects the rule of law, and its value as a consistent regulatory regime are our core strengths. But these will need to be enhanced with new capabilities in knowledge creation and innovation, as well as the development of deeper talent pool, in order for the business community to seize new opportunities. The connectivity and ease of doing business is well acknowledged by global businesses. Today, over 26,000 international companies use Singapore as a base for their operations.

Ravi Menon: Decentralised finance and the future of money Panel remarks by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Andrew Crockett Memorial Lecture by Mark Carney, via Video Conference, 28 June 2021. * * * Thank you for the opportunity to engage on Mark Carney’s deeply thoughtful lecture. Mark has given us a powerful rendition of the transformation taking place that will “re-wire” our monetary and financial systems. Centrifugal forces are driving financial functions away from the traditional core. These forces are not just affecting money, but all aspects of the monetary system. Mark also reminds us that, amid this transformation, money has to be anchored on “values of trust, resilience, dynamism, solidarity and sustainability”. I cannot agree more. I’d like to focus on: the decentralisation of finance across the three ‘I’s of the monetary stack — intermediaries, infrastructure, and instruments; and how central banks and regulators can potentially shape this decentralisation in a way that upholds the critical values of money that Mark has highlighted. Let me begin with Intermediaries, at the top of the monetary stack. The delivery of retail financial services is being decentralised. This is happening in two ways. First, finance by non-financial players. There is now a much broader range of non-traditional – and often unregulated intermediaries in the retail finance space. This is not just BigTechs, but also FinTechs and smaller technology firms. These players provide payments, lending, savings and investments as complements to their core digital service.