However, it is neither realistic nor desirable for regulators to police every single trade in our financial markets, which will require inordinate resources. Instead, the surveillance and enforcement functions of the MAS should be complemented by a culture of market discipline through greater transparency. This will allow market participants including investors and analysts to query, and to exercise their interests as stakeholders. As former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once said, “Transparency challenges market participants not only to provide information, but also to place that information in a context that makes it more meaningful”. A dynamic and evolving market 40. I will now move on to some broader development areas. Financial markets will evolve, in part driven by technology and as a response to regulatory requirements. Just as technology has improved operational efficiency of stock exchanges in the 1990s from an open-outcry pit system to real-time electronic trading screens, technology will continue to transform and improve how exchanges and other financial market infrastructures work. 41. The trend of financial markets “electronification” is inevitable as more financial products are standardised and traded electronically. We are likely to see more algorithmic trading which do not require human intervention in trading decisions. As the cost of setting up trading platforms declines, trading venues including exchanges, electronic crossing networks, multilateral trading facilities will proliferate and compete for liquidity. 42. We have seen significant investments in technology to reduce latency and design in eversmarter algorithms to trade more efficiently.

The growth of our financial sector in part has been driven by our ability to attract  1  Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/global-markets-at-the-beginning-of-a-crisisgeorge-soros-says  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  international investors, traders and financial intermediaries to participate in our financial markets, and for foreign corporates to tap our markets for their funding and hedging needs. Clearly, Singapore does not and cannot operate in isolation from rest of the world; indeed, we have become an important node in the global financial system. 6. Singapore’s attraction and standing as an international financial centre must be underpinned by investor confidence in a stable business environment, with clear rule of law and a sound regulatory framework. Only when there is confidence and stability in the system would corporates, financial institutions and individuals tap our financial centre to invest, to raise capital and to manage risks. 7. As our markets develop, we must continue to safeguard this reputation of integrity, trust and resilience. Because many global financial institutions operate here, we have to also measure ourselves to international standards and expectations by incorporating international rules and best practices where appropriate. In the securities markets, the MAS has an active role in international standard setting bodies such as International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO); as an example, we co-chair a CPMI-IOSCO Working Group on strengthening the cyber resilience of financial market infrastructures, including dealing with cyber-threats. 8. As exchanges in Singapore are key financial market infrastructure with a global participation, they are regulated to meet international standards.