trade execution and price discovery in fx https : / / www. mas. gov. sg / news / speeches / 2021 / riding - the - growth - momentum - in - asia 3 / 11 12 / 02 / 2021 " riding the growth momentum in asia " – keynote speech by ms jacqueline loh, deputy managing director ( markets & development ), … during asian trading hours, a move that will bring about better execution, lower cost of trading, and greater transparency for market participants. key global and regional sell - side and buy - side players, as well as e - trading platforms, have anchored their regional pricing and matching engines here, and have seen early successes. global liquidity providers that have completed the set - up of their pricing and trading engines in singapore provided feedback that trade - fill ratios have improved, from about 80 % to near 100 %. notably, when fx market volatility reached multiyear highs in march last year amidst the covid - 19 pandemic, the robust e - trading infrastructure in singapore was able to tide regional market participants over the storm, with relatively good execution. we seek to enhance singapore ’ s value proposition as a full - service international fund management and domiciliation hub. the variable capital companies ( vcc ) framework provides fund managers with a wider suite of investment fund vehicles and potential cost savings from centralising fund management and domiciliation activities, whilst providing new business opportunities for fund managers, service providers and fund advisors. the vcc has seen strong industry adoption, with close to 200 vccs set up in its first year, for a diverse range of traditional and alternative investment strategies. in the bond markets, singapore ’ s strong ecosystem of buy - side and sell - side institutions, alongside professional service providers, provides a robust gateway for international capital to be channelled to asian borrowers. to strengthen our value proposition as asia ’ s leading bond centre and building on the success of the asian bond grant scheme [ 10 ], we launched the global - asia bond grant scheme [ 11 ] in 2020, which defrays issuance - related expenses for companies with an asian nexus. in particular, a new funding tier for jumbosized issuances was introduced, with a doubling of the maximum grant amount from s $ 400, 000 to s $ 800, 000 per issuance for these issuances. in insurance, we aim to be a global capital for asian risk transfer, [UNK] a wide spectrum of risk financing solutions that

balances have significantly improved. crucially, the public debt - togdp ratio has started to decrease at euro area level. moreover, programme countries have rebalanced their current accounts, not only via demand compression but increasingly through genuine gains in competitiveness. to be sure, we cannot afford to be complacent. debt levels and unemployment are high and unevenly distributed, and the nascent recovery remains weak and uneven. we also need to restore trust in the banking sector, which is key to improving lending conditions to the real economy. in this regard, the comprehensive assessment of euro area banks will be crucial. • moreover, with the new governance framework the member states have taken key steps towards internalising economic and financial spillovers within emu. this has entailed a shift of the balance of competences upwards : the central level has been substantially strengthened to make the euro area more stable and resilient. fully enforcing the new rules of the game will however be the crucial test. at this stage, the implementation of the new macroeconomic framework has been somewhat disappointing in non - programme countries, notably regarding country - specific recommendations. it is more satisfactory on the fiscal side, but it will be essential that fiscal discipline is also fully enforced in good times, so that countries have enough fiscal space when the next crisis comes. the credibility of the new governance framework crucially hinges on the enforcement of our commitments, today and tomorrow. to this end, we need to improve effectiveness and legitimacy within the euro area. as i mentioned before, while economic policy - making is increasingly shared between the european and the national level, each level should be in a position to deliver on its own mandate. and citizens should be able to identify who is responsible for what. only with a more efficient and legitimate decision - making will we be able to properly enforce the governance framework ; only then will emu be genuinely “ fit for purpose ”. this brings me to the political dimension of the “ fitness test ”. looking beyond the crisis : a broader political perspective on euro area governance the four presidents ’ report identified “ political union ” as one of the four building blocks of a genuine emu. it put forward a number of proposals. some of the momentum behind the discussions on these proposals has been lost. it is not up to the ecb to promote them. but we would welcome policy - makers restarting the discussion and not shying away from ambitious proposals. i see several possible options to enhance effectiveness and