ravi menon : a note of thanks to the financial industry closing remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the institute of banking and finance distinction evening, singapore, 19 october 2023. * * * deputy prime minister mr heng swee keat, members of the ibf council, colleagues in the financial industry, good evening. my special thanks to dpm heng. you have a long association with both the mas and ibf and we are delighted you are here with us on this evening of celebration. my heartiest congratulations to all the award recipients. you are the real stars of this evening! the ibf distinction evening is probably the only large platform that brings together the entire financial industry a€ “ banks, insurers, asset managers, financial advisers. so, this is probably the last time i address the financial industry as md mas and chairman ibf. i want to take the opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all of you for the partnership and collaboration which we have enjoyed over the years. my fellow members of the ibf council for their support and guidance ; members of the standards committee and members of the various industry workgroups for setting competency standards and frameworks for continuous development ; our sister agencies in government, wsg, ssg, and imda for their close cooperation ; our trade unions for helping us engage employees and employers on workforce transformation ; and the hundreds of finance professionals who have volunteered as speakers, trainers, coaches and mentors, to help uplift the skills and competencies of our workforce. there is a special group i want to acknowledge - the staff and management of ibf. their dedication to our shared vision of a world - class industry workforce has been nothing short of inspiring. i am honoured to have worked with such a committed and competent team. i also want to add a special word of commendation for ng nam sin, who has led ibf so ably during the last 6 years, and will retire at the end of this year. his leadership was critical during the covid - 19 pandemic when ibf turned the crisis into an opportunity to step up training and skills development. since its birth in 1974, the story of ibf has been one of partnership and collaboration. by working together, we have created an ecosystem where we have continually reinvented ourselves to : create good job opportunities for singaporeans ; 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches build up skills and raise standards across

our key stakeholders to raise the level of awareness and understanding of islamic finance, and to enhance the conduciveness of our business environment. i am glad that the sbf and industry players such as the islamic bank of asia, cimb islamic, ocbc bank and allen & gledhill have undertaken to organize business seminars to educate our local companies. 17. to provide greater tax clarity and certainty to the industry, i am pleased to announce today that singapore will issue new income tax regulations for islamic finance. the ministry of finance will provide additional clarification and detailed explanation of the income tax treatment on more prescribed islamic financing arrangements including financing through a partnership arrangement, project finance as well as interbank placement of funds6. this is in the tax circular will cover islamic financing arrangements based on diminishing musharaka ( financing through a partnership arrangement ) and istisna ( project financing ) and interbank placement based on wakala ( agency contract ) and murabaha ( sale at cost - plus ) concepts. bis central bankers ’ speeches keeping with our long - standing principle that shariah - compliant products should not be disadvantaged in terms of regulatory and tax treatment where the economic substance and risks are similar to conventional products. we hope that this will expedite the development of more such financial products in singapore. conclusion 18. to sum up, the middle east and asia continue to present attractive opportunities. both regions need to work closer together to achieve greater synergy and accelerate the global growth of islamic finance. singapore will play its part in this international effort together with our regional and industry partners. 19. i am glad to see more players from middle east and asia participating in this year ’ s summit. i hope that you will take up the challenge to work together to spur the development of islamic finance as a bridge between asia and the middle east. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches