kong is one of the first places to offer such security measure to bank customers. so far the implementation of two - factor authentication has been progressing satisfactorily. all banks offering high - risk retail internet banking transactions will allow customers to apply for two - factor authentication from next month. individual banks may offer different two - factor authentication methods to customers. three common methods being adopted by banks in hong kong are digital certificate, security token - based one - time password and sms - based one - time password. to help you better understand the various methods, we will have a brief demonstration to illustrate these methods towards the end of the press conference. a series of promotional activities will be launched by the banking industry and individual banks from june 2005 onward to help customers to fully understand this security measure. mr he will highlight the key features of the consumer education programme to you. two - factor authentication strengthens the security controls of internet banking and protects bank customers from internet banking frauds. we are confident that with the joint efforts of the banking sector, bank customers, the police and the hkma, internet banking will continue to flourish under a safe and sound environment in hong kong.

increasing economic, trade and financial integration and increasing interdependence, any regional financial arrangement must be structured with regard to international standards and practices. it would not be appropriate, for example, for a regional institution, if there is to be one, to prescribe medicine, along with financial assistance, that is different from those prescribed by the international monetary fund. it would immediately be seen as a soft window for financial support, thus creating moral hazard problems. i am hopeful that well - structured arrangements will emerge in due course. certainly the climate is right and the momentum is there. 14. perhaps i should take this opportunity to put the recent financial turmoil in asia in a global perspective. first, the world is in very good economic shape. world economic output is estimated by the imf to expand by 4 - 4½ % in 1997 and 1998, the strongest pace in a decade. in the oecd countries, especially in the us, there is solid growth with low inflation, while we are seeing signs of broad - based recovery in europe. only in asia have we seen a slowing of growth, but the growth rates have still been high by world standard and last year japan grew by 3. 6 %, the fastest since the late 1980s. 15. second, because of high global liquidity and low inflation, asset markets around the world are at record levels. capital flows have increased with globalization, and added to record high stock and bond prices. the fact that europe has recently raised interest rates, and the fed is considering whether to pre - emptively raise rates to prevent wage - push inflation, has made the financial markets much more nervous despite the growth environment. this explains why the financial volatility in asia has become global in nature. it is very flattering to know that hong kong can move even the mighty us and european markets, as much as the other way around. 16. third, asian fundamentals, and especially hong kong fundamentals, are strong. but there have been different degrees of strength in asia with respect to the fundamentals. the adjustments in exchange rates of currencies in this region reflect partly the market perception of fundamentals. but as i said recently at the per jacobsson lecture, there is no perfect exchange rate regime. some economists think that a shift from a rigid exchange rate regime to a free float would result in lower interest rates to ease the interest rate pain. however, recent experience in asia has shown that the market demands even higher interest