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

investment fund sector. finalising post - crisis reforms i welcome the decisions taken by the eurogroup3 to continue advancing the banking union, reforming the european stability mechanism and building euro area fiscal instruments. in the financial sector – which is my focus today – the response to the crisis has centred on addressing weaknesses in the regulatory and institutional framework. the new european regulatory framework is making europe ’ s banks more resilient and gives authorities the tools to act when risks begin to build up. furthermore, banking union elevates the supervision and resolution of banks to the european level. this strategy has paid off : substantial risk reduction has been achieved, is ongoing and should continue. banks now hold more and better - quality capital than in the past4, and have improved their liquidity positions and leverage. addressing legacy issues, such as high levels of nonperforming loans ( npls ), is progressing well. for banks under direct ecb supervision, npl 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches levels fell from €958 billion when the single supervisory mechanism was launched to €657 billion in june 2018. the framework for resolution, following the introduction of brrd and the implementation of minimum requirements of eligible liabilities ( mrel ) also contribute to increase buffers, reduce risk and thereby the scope for risk sharing. however, the euro area ’ s financial architecture is not yet complete. there is some good news : there is now an agreement to make the common backstop to the single resolution fund ( srf ) operational, which will instil confidence in the markets that bank resolutions will happen in an orderly fashion. there is also a recognition that it is time to start political discussions on the missing third pillar of the banking union – a european deposit insurance scheme ( edis ). the high level group in charge of the discussions must be ambitious and ensure that we live up to the agenda laid down in the roadmap on completing the banking union agreed by finance ministers in 2016. 5 the ecb has often made the point that the opposing sides of the debate – risk reduction versus risk - sharing, and private risk - sharing versus public risk - sharing – are in fact complementary. 6 completing the institutional leg of the banking union, with the srf and edis, would move us closer to a level playing field. in a genuine banking union, banks would operate across borders and diversify their sources of income, which would allow them to continue lending to the real economy even when faced with