convinced that we should publish these templates well in advance of the final disclosure. market participants will then have time to digest the format, and will know exactly what type of information to expect on the day the results are released. addressing capital shortfalls i would now like to turn to the issue of how to deal with any capital shortfalls identified in the comprehensive assessment. it is clear that, first and foremost, banks will need to fill potential capital gaps via marketbased solutions. in line with our previous communications, those can include retained earnings, new issuances of common equity, suitably strong contingent capital, and sales of selected assets at market prices. as i see it, reductions in risk - weighted assets due to the validation and roll - out of appropriate internal models to additional portfolios should not be eligible to address a capital shortfall, unless these changes had already been planned and are under consideration by the competent authority – we are already used to this kind of constraint from the last eba recapitalisation exercise. in our latest press release on the comprehensive assessment issued at the end of april, we further elaborated on two aspects that i consider absolutely crucial. first, new capital issued to cover shortfalls will need to be of the highest quality. this is key for ensuring that a solid and thorough strengthening of capital positions takes place as a result of the exercise. we thus put a strong focus on cet1 and limit the admissible use of convertible capital instruments. any capital shortfall revealed by the aqr and the baseline scenario of the stress test may only be covered by cet1 capital. additional tier 1 instruments may be used to cover shortfalls revealed by the adverse stress test scenario, but their use is limited to a maximum volume of 1 % of rwa. we further differentiate between the levels of conversion triggers on those instruments – the higher the trigger, the larger the amount of the instrument that may be used to cover a shortfall. the second key aspect in respect of covering shortfalls is timing. the relevant recapitalisation actions will only be considered credible and effective if they are carried out swiftly, after the publication of results. for this reason, we have also specified that the coverage of shortfalls is expected to take place within six months for shortfalls identified in the aqr or the baseline stress test scenario, and within nine months for those identified in the adverse stress test scenario. the six and nine - month periods will start from the release of the

due to the transfer of the currency fund from bccs. all other assets and liabilities of bccs as at 30 september 2002 were similarly transferred to the mas and have been incorporated into our financial statements. the net assets of the currency fund at the end of the financial year provided 112 per cent asset backing for the currency in circulation of s $ 13. 8 billion. mas ’ profit after provisions for the financial year ended 31 march 2003 declined by 2. 8 per cent to s $ 623 million as our investments continued to be affected by the low global interest rate environment and volatile financial markets. conclusion in closing, let me restate mas ’ s priorities going forward. supporting economic growth while maintaining domestic price stability will remain the key focus of monetary policy. in the financial sector, we will continue to partner with industry players to build on our successes in key growth areas like asset management, the debt market, and treasury business, while looking out for new niche areas and opportunities. we will continue to refine our regulatory and supervisory framework as we progressively shift the emphasis from a rule - based regime to a risk - based and disclosure - based approach. this is necessarily work - in - progress, as it will take several years of learning and adaptation by mas, financial institutions, and market participants. but achieving this is an important part of ensuring that singapore remains a resilient, competitive, and dynamic financial centre. thank you very much. my colleagues and i will be pleased to take any questions that you may have.