ravi menon : the institute of banking and finance at forty welcome remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore and chairman of the institute of banking and finance, at the institute of banking and finance 40th anniversary dinner, singapore, 10 june 2014. * * * deputy prime minister and minister for finance, tharman shanmugaratnam, pioneers of ibf, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the council and staff of ibf, let me welcome you to ibf ’ s 40th anniversary dinner. ibf is where it is today because of what previous generations of council members and staff, industry practitioners and training providers accomplished together. they are the pioneers of ibf, whose contributions and achievements we are gathered here to celebrate. it is the inspiring vision and tireless efforts of these pioneers to build competencies in finance that helped create the international financial centre that singapore has become today. i am delighted that several of them are here with us this evening. ibf was set up in 1974 with the support of the monetary authority of singapore ( mas ) and the association of banks in singapore ( abs ). those were early days in singapore ’ s development as a financial centre. the birth of ibf helped to fill a critical gap in the training of singapore ’ s financial sector workforce. the subsequent growth of ibf has been a story of each generation building on the efforts of previous generations and helping to strengthen the capabilities of singapore ’ s finance professionals. let me begin by thanking the first group of ibf pioneers : the past chairmen of ibf. • mr michael wong pakshong, as ibf ’ s inaugural chairman from 1975 to 1977, laid out the vision for ibf – to develop a strong suite of educational programmes to support the growth of singapore ’ s banking industry. • mrs elizabeth sam, as ibf chair from 1977 to 1981, introduced ibf ’ s first and most widely - recognised diploma programme – the diploma in banking and finance. • mr ng kok song, who served as ibf chairman from 1981 to 1982, introduced a new foreign exchange training programme that helped alleviate the shortage of fx dealers in those early years when singapore was establishing itself as a global treasury hub. • mr koh beng seng, ibf ’ s longest serving chairman – from 1982 to 1997 – oversaw the introduction of many new training programmes beyond banking to cater to the broader range of financial sector activities that took root during those years. • mr tha

institutional, policy, and supervisory framework. can we do more? let me cite three areas. first, mas is considering a tougher penalty regime for violations of aml / cft. in a recent announcement, the attorney general has stated that singapore will seek tougher penalties for white - collar criminals. mas is in full alignment with this. we will ensure that financial crime bis central bankers ’ speeches does not pay in singapore and that those who jeopardise singapore ’ s hard - earned reputation as a financial centre of integrity face severe consequences. second, singapore intends to make criminal the laundering of proceeds from tax offences. this is a pre - emptive move. in february next year, fatf is expected to take a decision on this matter. singapore will fully align its regime to fatf ’ s new requirements ; not only because we are a fatf member, but more importantly, we want to discourage tax evasion monies from attempting to enter our system. as other jurisdictions tighten their regimes and tax evasion monies seek cover, singapore is sending a clear message that it neither wants nor will tolerate these illicit inflows. this being a significant policy move, we will conduct public consultations and welcome stakeholder inputs to shape a regime that is practical to implement and effective in outcome. third, singapore will step up its enforcement resources to deal with suspicious transactions reported by financial institutions. the commercial affairs department will double the manpower of the suspicious transaction reporting office and enhance its analytical and reporting systems to detect criminal activity and illicit funds. rigorous supervision having a good aml / cft framework is not enough. it is necessary to ensure compliance with the framework through supervision. since mas ’ supervisory activities are not as visible, let me say more about this. mas uses a risk - based approach, evaluating the money laundering and terrorism financing risks of each institution by taking into account its business activities ; types of customers, products and services ; its geographical areas of operation, as well as the quality of the institution ’ s internal risk management systems and processes in mitigating the risks. mas conducts both off - site surveillance and on - site inspections to check institutions ’ compliance with aml / cft requirements. this ensures that policies and procedures set out in the institutions ’ manuals are adhered to on the ground. institutions deemed as having higher risk are subject to more frequent onsite inspections. let me cite some outcomes from our inspections. institutions that have failed to meet our requirements have been warned