and management of our financial institutions must be at the forefront of keeping their own institutions safe and sound. that our financial sector has remained so is testimony to our partnership with them in prudent risk management. 15. our financial industry has been an active partner in crafting regulation. mas places much importance on consulting the industry before setting new rules or standards. we thank the industry for giving us useful suggestions and feedback, and sensitising us to unintended consequences. and our financial institutions have been a great ally in our efforts to promote singapore as an international financial centre. 16. the 2008 global financial crisis has given the financial industry a bad name. this need not be the case. 17. let us in singapore together build a financial industry : that is economically purposeful : generating real value - added and good jobs that is socially redeeming : creating opportunities for individuals and enterprises ; and that is ethically sound : acting with integrity at all times. finally, we thank our international partners 18. at our genesis in 1971, we had no experience in central banking or financial supervision. we learnt much from other central banks – like the bank of england, bank negara malaysia, and the reserve bank of australia. bis central bankers ’ speeches 19. the imf seconded to mas a generous array of advisers, from whom we learnt core skills in banking supervision and economic research. i still recall the imf ’ s article iv consultations of twenty years ago, when i was a young economist in mas. to many of us, they were the best tutorials in macroeconomic analysis that we have ever had. 20. being part of the community of central bankers at the bis was another way in which we learnt from the rest of the world. we continue to benefit to this day from the collegial spirit of basel, working together to craft international standards, and co - operating in cross border supervision. conclusion 21. in closing, let me re - dedicate on behalf of my colleagues at the mas, our commitment to our mission : to secure for singaporeans a low rate of inflation ; to preserve the purchasing power of our official foreign reserves ; to keep our financial sector safe and sound amidst crisis and change ; and to grow singapore as a vibrant and trusted financial centre. in this, we look forward to your continued support. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

its structure and strengthen the delivery of its director training program, so that it may better meet the increased demands placed on directors in this current environment. the continual efforts by industry practitioners, investors and regulators to improve corporate governance have enabled singapore to stay ahead of the field. the world economic forum's global competitiveness report 2009, for instance, ranked singapore first in corporate governance standards in asia. lessons from the crisis in the aftermath of crises, corporate governance standards and practices often come under scrutiny. for instance, after the enron / worldcom failures, critics pointed to the lack of independence of auditors and audit committees, and to deficiencies in accounting standards. after the bursting of the dot. com bubble, attention was drawn to the severe conflicts of interest by brokers and analysts. the recent financial crisis has been no different. indeed, reviews by international bodies and national agencies have found that weak corporate governance played a role in this crisis. for instance, the oecd report on " the corporate governance lessons from the financial crisis " 1 noted that " the financial crisis can be, to an important extent, attributed to failures and weaknesses in corporate governance arrangements which did not serve their purpose to safeguard against excessive risk taking in a number of financial services companies. " while many of the corporate governance failures that have been uncovered so far affected financial companies, many of the structural weaknesses may also be common to large and complex listed firms. it is therefore relevant for boards of other companies to reflect on these findings. let me briefly highlight a few common themes. the first relates to the quality and composition of boards. research shows that although having a good balance of directors with a range of skills and experience that are relevant to the business of the firm is an essential foundation for good corporate governance, this was also often the most neglected. a number of reports2 also found weaknesses in the implementation of effective risk management. in many cases, risk was not managed on an enterprise - wide basis and boards were not fully apprised of the level of risk facing the company. overseas regulators are now reviewing the role of boards in providing guidance on the alignment of corporate strategy with risk - appetite, as well as on appropriate internal structures in risk management. not surprisingly, remuneration practices have attracted the most public attention. the alignment of executive and board remuneration with the longer term interests of the company and its shareholders is a widely accepted corporate governance principle. nonetheless, compensation practices that rewarded staff handsomely for short - term gains