costs amounting to €1, 300. 7 it ’ s also encouraging to see that the united states, mexico and canada have agreed on an updated free trade agreement. but the most important thing here is to preserve the rule - based multilateral trading system overall. this also means that existing rules have to be upheld. unfair trading practices such as dumping in the steel industry cannot be tolerated. the rules also have to be enhanced. many parties are now pushing for better protection of 5 / 8 bis central bankers'speeches intellectual property rights. just recently, 13 partners – among them the eu – signed a communique with the intention of reforming the world trade organization and making it more sustainable. on the whole, it seems to me that the threat of an all - encompassing global trade war has diminished, if anything, of late. having said that, the measures already adopted in the trade dispute between the united states and china are certainly likely to have macroeconomic repercussions. it is chiefly the two main players that can expect to sustain losses. according to model - based analyses performed by the bundesbank, economic output could be ½ per cent lower in both the united states and china over the medium term compared with potential developments in the absence of the trade dispute. other economies would also tend to be harmed, albeit to a lesser extent. the euro area and germany would suffer only a little. but nor should germany assume that it will benefit from the spat while remaining unscathed itself. in total, the punitive tariffs are likely to dampen global trade by just under 1 per cent after a certain interval. 7 challenges of globalisation and technological advances from an economic perspective, it ’ s clear that free trade gives a long - term boost to general prosperity. yet a shift is under way in employment prospects and also relative wages. globalisation has its winners and losers. studies show, for instance, that china ’ s integration into the global economy, in particular, led to notable job losses in manufacturing in the united states. more new jobs were probably created – but in other sectors and often in completely different locations. local labour markets seem to have adapted only slowly, and the lifetime income of workers who lost their jobs declined considerably. 8 for germany, on the other hand, globalisation created major opportunities to export to eastern europe and china. 9 in this way, it helped germany to retain manufacturing jobs – although this is also in net terms. equally, technological progress has its winners and losers

shifting from a rule - based to a risk - based approach requires mas to sharpen its supervisory capabilities. it involves assessing key risks faced by individual financial institutions and their ability to manage these risks. we are building more comprehensive risk profiles of individual institutions, leveraging on technology and better information collection. primary responsibility for risk management rests with the board and senior management of the institutions themselves. this is why strengthening corporate governance standards in financial institutions has been a key priority at mas for several years. building on earlier initiatives, we have issued a consultation paper, proposing to set higher standards of financial transparency and corporate governance for locally - incorporated banks and direct insurers. we have proposed making it mandatory for the roles of the chairman and ceo to be separated, and strengthening the independence of boards of directors from substantial shareholders. we have received good feedback on these proposals and will issue a final set of guidelines shortly. a less prescriptive regulatory approach requires that consumers be empowered through enhanced disclosure and education to make better - informed decisions themselves. this is particularly relevant in the current context of financial innovation which has spawned a growing array of retail products and services with enhanced distribution networks. mas will work closely with industry associations and other public sector agencies to develop consumer guides and educational programmes to raise the financial literacy of consumers. we have also facilitated the development of industry - based mechanisms to offer consumers faster and more cost - effective ways to settle disputes with banks and insurers. the banking industry has set up a consumer mediation unit and the insurance industry the insurance disputes resolution organisation. enhancing organisational effectiveness the year was also eventful for mas as an organisation, as we continued to build on our structure, systems, and people to better meet the challenges posed by a changing and uncertain external environment. we restructured the organisation to better integrate our supervisory functions, align resources with our objectives, and build technical and managerial depth. we stepped up efforts to enhance the skills and expertise of our staff, sending more of our staff on external attachments to financial institutions and supranational organisations, and putting in place a more systematic approach in functional training. the integration with the previous board of commissioners of currency, singapore ( bccs ) was carried out successfully following the merger on 1 october 2002. annual accounts a few quick words on mas ’ financial statements. the authority ’ s total assets grew 18. 6 per cent during the year ended 31 march 2003 to s $ 153. 9 billion. about 11 per cent or s $ 16 billion is