a strong commitment to price stability, a stable banking system, a robust external liquidity position and a safe, sound and efficient payments and settlements system. closing i began with the issue of the perception of scarcity, owing to the disconnect between supply and demand of resources. i then shared some opportunities to scale up services and further improve the quality of people ’ s lives ; create and nurture innovative partnerships ; recognize bis central bankers ’ speeches and value our common and significant consumer segment ; leverage on technological innovation and increase our efforts for development of our respective nations. these are consistent with the rotary club's mottoes of “ service above self ” and “ one profits most who serves best. ” it is incumbent on us to make the connections, technological, mechanical, and regulatory. as solutions to a problem : water scarcity and security, access to financial services and achieving overall inclusive growth are ultimately, solutions for all. may we commit to an even stronger engagement and partnership as we face challenges and opportunities the unfolding operating environment offers. thank you and good evening. bis central bankers ’ speeches

domestic market is too small to sustain five local banks of adequate size to compete regionally. only one merger has taken place so far, between dbs and posbank. but i know that all the banks are alive to the competitive trends, and are continually reassessing their position. it is a dynamic situation, and the present configuration is unlikely to be permanent. regulatory cooperation and harmonisation the second dimension of financial integration is the trend towards greater regulatory cooperation and harmonisation. starting in the 1980's, a series of international fora were created for regulators and policymakers to share experiences, cooperate with one another, and harmonise regulations and policies. among the multilateral initiatives, the efforts of the basle committee and iosco are probably the best known. the basle capital accord of 1988 helped to increase the capital held by internationally active banks, and to create a more level playing field for banks under different regulators. the new basle standards now being finalised will remedy the weaknesses of the 1988 accord, and enable banks to set aside capital in accordance with the riskiness of their assets. iosco has provided securities regulators globally with a useful platform to exchange views and enhance cooperation on issues relating to the regulation of the securities markets. it has developed a common set of objectives and principles of securities regulation, which enhance mutual understanding among securities regulators and commissioners. iosco has also been actively involved in promulgating standards of public disclosure, and facilitated cross - border capital raising and listings. the asian crisis has added impetus to the harmonisation of regulatory standards. it demolished any argument that disparities in credit processes and banking regulations across countries reflected differences in cultural and social norms, and that therefore harmonising regulations was misguided and futile. everybody now acknowledges that the core principles of sound banking practices and banking regulation are universal. there should be due diligence in credit decisions. a banker should not lend unless he is highly confident that the loan will be repaid. the factors that affect the probability of default will differ across countries. but regardless of the country in which the bank operates, lending based on relationships or names without proper due diligence is simply unsound banking. more needs to be done to improve regulatory cooperation and harmonisation, to achieve the vision of " one financial world ". there are two elements of improvement. the first is a clearer distribution of responsibilities among regulators for prudential oversight of international financial institutions. the basle concordat lays out the allocation