spectrum of re / insurance activities through a vibrant ecosystem of re / insurance players and service providers. there is also a strong catastrophe risk ecosystem to support ils issuances, with the leading catastrophe modelling firms with ils expertise present in singapore, and research institutes such as the earth observatory of singapore and the institute of catastrophe risk management, to support data and modelling needs. singapore also aims to serve as the asian knowledge centre for new and emerging risks. b. singapore is well recognised as a premier asset management centre in asia, with deep capabilities across both traditional and alternative asset classes. as the gateway to alternative capital providers such as pension funds, family offices, and hedge funds in asia, ils fund managers are increasingly assessing asian investors through singapore. c. singapore has a deep debt capital market, with a broad range of bond offerings to provide collateral for and to support innovative ils products and structures. sgx, a dynamic stock exchange, can facilitate bond trading. 13 second, singapore has ready corporate, regulatory and tax frameworks to facilitate ils issuances : a. ils instruments can be issued and regulated in singapore via the special purpose reinsurance vehicle ( “ sprv ” ) regulations, which allows sponsors to readily securitise insurance risks in singapore. b. to provide tax neutrality for ils vehicles, singapore offers the approved special purpose vehicle ( “ aspv ” ) scheme. 14 third, mas has taken steps nurture the growth of the ils market in the region. a. mas launched the ils grant scheme in jan this year, which will fund 100 % upfront issuance costs of catastrophe bonds in singapore, up to s $ 2 million. the aim of the scheme is to defray the frictional costs of catastrophe bonds issuances. we have received keen interest from the region, with a healthy pipeline of issuers keen to tap on the grant scheme to issue a catastrophe bond here. leading insurance brokers have expressed support for singapore as a domicile and are working with their asian clients for potential issuances here. b. we have also formed an industry - led alternative risk transfer work - group to advise mas on initiatives to support the development of singapore as an ils domicile. the workgroup will continue to provide feedback on the current ils regime including on 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches regulations, tax and structures. 15 fourth, our proximity to asian markets allows for a deep understanding of underlying risks and

needs of the sponsors. we have grown as a traditional re / insurance market due to this and it will likewise be an important consideration for asian ils issuers looking to tap capital markets in the region, and for capital providers that are underwriting the risks. 16 despite this promising outlook, we recognise that ils expertise is still nascent in asia, and there is much scope for singapore to learn from international best practices. we hope to strengthen singapore ’ s proposition as a ils domicile in 4 ways : a. first, we seek to explore the introduction of bespoke corporate structures for the ils market, like the protected cell company ( pcc ) structure, to provide more structuring options to potential issuers. a pcc structure would facilitate multiple issuances in one vehicle with its segregation of assets and liabilities, and is sometimes preferred by issuers for its efficiency in cost and operations. b. second, we understand speed to market is a crucial factor for issuers as it provides certainty for their reinsurance structure. we will work closely with issuers to explore the potential of further streamlining the licensing requirements and process in singapore. c. third, we recognise that structuring ils requires specialised roles beyond the conventional pool of debt capital market teams, such as loss reserve specialists and capital market advisory teams. mas will explore support for the setting up of specialist teams in singapore, to facilitate knowledge transfer to the local market. to raise the industry ’ s skills in this area, there are plans to incorporate catastrophe modelling for catastrophe bonds in existing training programs. d. fourth, the need for quality data. data is key for catastrophe risk quantification and the design of risk transfer tools like ils. we know that there is room to improve data quality in this region and have embarked on the natural catastrophe data analytics exchange since april 2017 to bridge the data gap. high resolution data, obtained through innovative technology and new methodologies, can complement other traditional sources of industry data, and support the underwriting of traditional insurance products and structuring of ils. conclusion 17 asia holds promise for the next phase of growth for ils given the region ’ s growing needs, and singapore can play an important role to facilitate this growth as an ils domicile. today ’ s conference will provide an important platform for the industry to discuss such developments in the ils market, and explore the key to harnessing the potential in asia. 1 schroder