and to exact penalties on those who manipulate the market. making market discipline work is therefore the responsibility of all participants in the system. let me briefly outline some of these roles : • the mas, as the statutory regulator, will monitor compliance with the laws and regulations that govern the integrity of the markets, seek enforcement of the laws, and propose amendments in order to keep them relevant in a changing market environment. we have undertaken a substantial review of our securities laws in the last year. insider trading is now both a criminal and civil offence, and we have recently proposed to amend the laws to capture a wider pool of persons who seek to take advantage of inside information. the proposed new securities and futures act ( sfa ), to be put to parliament later this year, will contain other substantial changes. i will elaborate on one of these, concerning the prospectus registration regime later in the speech. • the singapore exchange ( sgx ), with its frontline interface with the industry and markets, plays a key role in preserving fair and transparent markets. it is responsible for the listing the sfa would also incorporate the provisions concerning the raising of capital that are presently found in the companies act, thereby creating a single compendium of laws governing the securities industry. rules for companies that raise capital and have their shares traded on the exchange. it is also responsible for ensuring that conditions exist for orderly trading of listed securities. • the conduct of issuers themselves is at the core of a system of market discipline. issuers must take it upon themselves to make full and prompt disclosure of material information. it is not just a matter of meeting the requirements of the law and sgx's rules. it is increasingly in the interests of companies to go beyond the minimum in disclosure standards, as investors become more discerning to the quality of information available to them. a number of studies have shown that the markets have attached an increased premium in recent years to companies which demonstrate sound corporate governance and who are more forthcoming and open with information on their businesses. the so - called'corporate governance dividend ', previously not easily discerned in asian markets in particular, is now fully visible. • market intermediaries play an important supporting role. investment banks, accountants, lawyers and other professionals who advise issuers have a duty to provide high standards of professional advice, and to exercise thorough due diligence to ensure that issuers comply with laws and rules, as well as adopt high standards of disclosure. brokers

heng swee keat : talent management strategies in singapore opening address by mr heng swee keat, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore and chairman of the institute of banking & finance ( ibf ), at the 2nd ibf annual conference, singapore, 20 june 2008. * * * welcome to the 2008 ibf annual conference which is held in conjunction with our 33rd annual general meeting. when we held our last agm and annual conference in may last year, the mood among global financial institutions was buoyant. the outlook for the global economy and financial markets was positive. the main concern among firms was the severe shortage of staff. today, the mood is cautious. the credit crisis is still working its way through, inflation has become a major concern everywhere, and economic prospects are more uncertain. in asia, investors and economists remain cautiously optimistic about the growth prospects of the economies. while financial institutions had limited exposures to sub - prime assets and related credit derivatives, financial markets in asia are not isolated from global markets. we are seeing a similar rise of risk aversion and tightening of credit conditions. the situation in the coming months will remain fluid and we must remain vigilant. talent management – a strategic imperative the developments in global financial markets in the last one year have important implications on human resources strategy. for instance, among the many findings in the report released by the senior supervisors group is that firms which weathered the recent crisis better have senior management members who have expertise in a range of risks. this underscores the need to attract and develop talent not only in the frontline, but across critical functions and at various levels of the organisation. financial institutions planning to expand must treat talent development as a strategic priority, and such development has to be undertaken in a holistic way, across the entire organisation. but this is not an easy task. there is a chinese saying that it takes ten years to grow a tree, and a hundred years to develop an individual. talent development requires consistent focus and commitment, from leaders at all levels of the organization. the efforts need to be sustained over many years, through good times and difficult times. the demographic changes in asia coupled with rapid growth in the economies will make this task even more challenging in the coming years. building a world class financial sector workforce ibf is committed to working with the industry to drive the development of talent in the financial sector. let me now turn to some of the key initiatives undertaken in the last twelve