recovered from effects of the global financial crisis. however, the strength of the sing dollar has had a bearing on the valuation of mas ’ foreign assets. over the fy, the sing dollar strengthened considerably against most currencies : 10 % against the us dollar and 5. 5 % against the euro. including exchange rate effects, in sing dollar terms, mas recorded a net loss of s $ 10. 9 billion. in short, we made good investment gains, but when measured in sing dollars, these gains were more than offset by the strength of the currency. if we had reported our p / l in an international currency it would show a healthy profit. the effect of a strong sing dollar on our reserves should be seen in a broader context. first, the international purchasing power of our reserves is unaffected by strength of sing dollar. mas ’ foreign reserves serve two primary purposes in times of crisis : they finance our imports from the rest of the world, and safeguard the value of our currency. on both fronts, it is foreign currency value of the reserves that matters. second, the strength of the sing dollar has safeguarded our domestic purchasing power. it has helped to moderate the increase in singaporeans ’ cost of living. for instance, while global oil prices rose by 20 % in fy2010, domestic prices of oil - related items increased by only 10 %. or take another example of food prices. during fy2010, the rate of increase in food prices in singapore was about half of that in our major trading partners, which includes both advanced and emerging economies. last, i will elaborate on our efforts to maintain high regulatory standards. mas is well - placed to meet higher global standards emerging from international regulatory reforms following the crisis. singapore ’ s regulatory regime already meets or exceeds international norms, and this has enabled us to weather the financial crisis relatively well. following the crisis, international regulatory standards are being raised. we are well - placed to meet them. let me start with banking. mas announced last month we will require singaporeincorporated banks to meet basel iii capital requirements earlier than the basel committee ’ s schedule, and at a higher standard. market reaction to this announcement has been positive because singapore - incorporated banks are well - capitalised and in a strong position to meet mas ’ revised requirements. these requirements will help keep our banking system strong and safeguard our financial stability. likewise for liquidity. singapore was one of earliest jurisdictions to require banks to maintain minimum liquidity levels

jean - claude trichet : introductory remarks at the signing ceremony for the t2s memorandum of understanding speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, at the signing ceremony for the t2s memorandum of understanding, frankfurt, 16 july 2009. * * * dear ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to mark the signing of a memorandum of understanding on t2s between the eurosystem and the csds of europe for the next stage of the t2s project. t2s will create a single european, borderless, settlement platform, offering highly secure delivery versus payment for the settlement of securities, using central bank money. by combining cash and securities settlements in one shared platform, it will create a single pool of securities available to market users through their chosen csd, irrespective of the location of the issuer, the security or the settlement counterparty. as a result, cross - border transactions will become as simple as domestic ones. through economies of scale, the cost of settlement on both a domestic and cross - border basis will be substantially reduced. like an airport servicing various airlines, t2s will provide a basic public infrastructure that can be leveraged by csds to offer, for example, a mix of value - added products and services to their customers. by creating a single pool of securities that is accessible from any csd regardless of its location, it will naturally lead to more competition in the settlement industry, more transparent and efficient pricing, and create new opportunities for cross - border trading venues. on top of this – and this has moved more to the forefront in recent months – through its reduced liquidity needs and its operational robustness, t2s will also contribute to the stability of the financial system. overall, this dynamic process is likely to create substantial gains for the european financial industry. furthermore, by helping to overcome the fragmentation in the european market for securities settlement, t2s reinforces many other european union initiatives, such as the code of conduct for clearing and settlement, the giovannini harmonisation process and of course the mifid directive. in this way, t2s helps to drive forward the single market objectives set out by the lisbon agenda. today ’ s signing of the memorandum of understanding, which sets out the mutual obligations of the eurosystem and csds, brings us another step closer towards realising this goal. the presence here of settlement houses operating not only in the euro area but also from