##vid world might look like. i think it is a bit too early to tell, but some broad trends are discernible. first, the financial sector needs to be able to operate effectively with safe management. it is going to take quite a while before we find a vaccine or treatment for covid - 19. this means the virus is going to be with us for a while and, with it, the risk of renewed outbreaks of infections. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches so, the financial industry must prepare itself to operate in a safe manner, amid the ongoing risk of pandemic. this could include changes in office layouts, the way transactions are carried out, everything we do has to take into account public health considerations. second, and an obvious one, is digitalisation. there has been more digitalisation in the last two months than people had expected to see over the next five years. this acceleration is going to be with us. once people have gotten used to live digitally – remote working, e - commerce, telemedicine – the economy and society are going to change in a variety of ways. the financial sector is well - plugged into digitalisation. those financial institutions that adopt deeper end - to - end digitalisation, who are able to use digital platforms for their business operations that today are conducted in person or on paper, are going to have a strong competitive advantage. new opportunities in particular areas of financial services are harder to tell. impact investing may become a stronger growth opportunity. we have already seen some financial institutions launching impact funds to seek higher returns by investing in companies which are focused on combating the pandemic or providing solutions to deal with the associated health risks. healthcare and supply chain resilience have taken on added importance, and there seems to be interest among asset managers to invest in these areas. pandemic risk insurance is another area that might see good growth. there is now a much heightened awareness of pandemic risks. although pandemic risk insurance has been around for some time, it never really took off. i think you are going to find demand for risk management and insurance solutions to address some of these pandemic - related areas of risk. the financial sector is fundamentally in the business of risk management. covid - 19 represents the materialisation of an extreme kind of risk. to the extent there is greater recognition of risks of all kinds and consequent demand for effective risk management solutions, the financial sector

will have an important role to play in the years ahead. it is hard to tell at this point what the specific growth opportunities will be. we just have to watch very closely how these trends unfold. but overall, mas is undiminished in its optimism and confidence in the prospects for the financial industry in singapore. 1 the circuit breaker refers to the tightened restrictions on movements and gatherings of people imposed from 7 april to 1 june 2020, aimed at slowing the spread of the covid - 19 virus in singapore. 2 bny mellon and deutsche bank are the two new players. the existing seven are citibank, standard chartered bank, ubs, jp morgan, bnp paribas, xtx, and jump trading. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches