ravi menon : preparing the workforce for a changing financial industry welcome remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the institute of banking and finance distinction evening 2018, singepore, 4 october 2018. * * * mr chan chun sing, minister for trade and industry, members of the ibf council, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ibf distinction evening 2018. we are delighted to have mr chan chun sing as our guest - of - honour. minister chan, as you know, has played a leading role in the labour movement, to help prepare our workers for the future. and now minister for trade and industry, he is leading singapore ’ s economic development efforts. he will bring together his insights from these two important roles and share his thoughts later on building a smart workforce that is ready for the economy of tomorrow. the ibf distinction evening is probably the only large platform that brings together the entire financial industry – banks, insurers, asset managers, financial advisers. it is an opportune occasion – not only to catch up with colleagues and friends and celebrate our achievements as an industry – but to also reflect on the big drivers of change and key priorities for us as an industry. there is much celebrate. singapore ’ s financial centre is doing well. growth in financial services in h1 this year was 8 %, nearly twice as fast as the overall economy. in fact, the financial sector has been growing faster than the overall economy in 6 out of the last 7 years. year - on - year growth in the financial sector will moderate in h2 because of the high base last year and some maturing in momentum. mas expects financial sector growth for the year as a whole to average around 6 %. not bad at all, considering the challenges facing the global financial industry still emerging from the long shadow of the global financial crisis. slower trend growth, tighter regulation, keener competition, and increasingly technological disruption. we often talk about growth, regulation, competition, and technology. and indeed they are key drivers of the financial industry. but i think the issue that is of most relevance to the long - term prospects of our financial industry is people and skills. no matter how many robots and algorithms we use in our business in the future, our industry will remain a people - centred industry. the question is : what kind of people? 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches will they have the skills and aptitudes to harness the opportunities

code, will continue. 3 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches supporting adherence while the above reasons provide a strong foundation for the code to succeed, the success of the code will depend on widespread adherence by market participants. hence, we should each ask ourselves what we can do to support adherence. there are three key elements in the adherence framework developed by the fxwg, which can support adherence at both the individual firm and industry levels. first, the code has to be embedded into your practices. training and education of staff will be particularly important to effectively embed the code. there are ongoing initiatives at the firm level, and the industry should consider if there are system - level initiatives that could make sense. for example, industry associations could consider developing relevant training content that caters to specific segments of the fx market e. g. buy - side players or corporate treasuries. second, there should be effective monitoring on how successfully the code has been embedded. to this end, a number of adherence mechanisms have been developed to facilitate effective monitoring. for example, at the system level, the gfxc will use a broad survey of market participants to monitor adherence and adoption. the survey will take place annually and the first survey will be conducted in 4q this year, to form the baseline for monitoring progress. at the firm level, we expect that mechanisms will be put in place to monitor how the code has been embedded within internal practices. third, firms should be able to demonstrate publicly that their conduct in the fx market is in line with the code. a key part of the code is the statement of commitment that is found in annex 3 of the code. this is a single, common basis by which each market participant can demonstrate that it commits to adhere to the code2. it will be up to each market participant to decide whether and how to use the statement. for example, some market participants may choose to publish their statement on their websites, or provide a copy to counterparties when establishing trading relationships. thus far, a number of the largest fx market participants have indicated that they will be signing the statement by may 2018. the industry is also considering the development of public registers, which are essentially repositories where market participants can publish their statements. public registers can enhance transparency around the level of adoption of the code, and can be a means to monitor the success of the code over time. feedback from market participants has indicated that there is a demand for public registers. market participants that