The crisis exposed several structural weaknesses both in the domestic economies of Asia and in the global financial architecture. Recognising the growing interlinkages and risks, a range of new initiatives both nationally and regionally, together with the parallel development of sound institutions and good governance, were introduced post-crisis to strengthen the resilience of the Asian economies and minimise regional systemic risks in order to ensure a more sustainable economic development. In retrospect, the Asian crisis marked not a halt, but the start of an even greater presence of Asia in the global landscape. Following the crisis, Asia has undertaken wide-ranging financial reforms, aimed at developing more stable, resilient and efficient financial systems. This included restructuring as well as institutional development to strengthen the resilience of the financial sector. Amongst others, sound regulatory regimes have been established, prudential regulations strengthened, corporate governance and financial disclosure improved, and deposit insurance introduced. As the domestic financial systems strengthened, the environment for the banking sector has become increasingly more competitive through gradual deregulation and liberalisation. In addition, efforts have also been focused on developing the capital markets, in particular the bond market, which has also reduced over-reliance on the banking sector as a source of financing for large businesses. This has prompted the banking sector to broaden access to credit to other economic agents. Overall, what were once bank-dominated financial systems has become more diversified and competitive with strengthened governance, disclosure and regulation.

DLT may provide a more efficient alternative to credit bureaus that compile consumer credit information from banks. The insurance industry in Singapore is looking at how DLT can help prevent duplicate insurance claims. 2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  Probably, one of the potentially more powerful applications in financial services is in customer verification, the so-called “know-your-customer” or KYC process. Banks spend an inordinate amount of time and money on KYC, and yet struggle to effectively detect and deter money laundering, tax evasion, and other forms of illicit finance. DLT brings about opportunities for a shared industry-wide KYC utility that can verify customers and transactions in a more efficient and robust manner. This is not just conjecture. It is beginning to happen. In Singapore, OCBC Bank, HSBC and MUFG announced last week that they have completed a KYC blockchain project to reduce the duplicity of KYC processes, providing convenience for customers and efficiency across the banks. The “killer app” for DLT is really in cross-border transactions. When multiple entities across different jurisdictions are involved, there is no natural trusted central party. DLT allows the possibility of various parties working directly with one another to make crossborder transactions cheaper, faster, and safer. Cross-border trade is a good example. In Singapore, we are exploring two specific applications – trade finance and trade documentation. In trade finance, DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank are exploring the use of DLT to prevent the problem of duplicate invoicing while preserving client confidentiality.