quarter - on - quarter on a seasonally - adjusted annualized basis. financial services employment has also held up reasonably well. employment stock continued to increase in q4 2008 and fell by 1, 900 or 1. 1 % in q1 2009. a recent poll 3 showed that the banking and financial services sector reported the biggest jump in hiring intentions, 32 % this quarter, up from 19 % in q2. strengthening resilience – new measures going forward, we will remain vigilant and continue to focus on the three key pillars of resilience of our financial system. the main focus would be on shaping and adopting new international regulatory standards, strengthening the corporate governance of financial institutions, enhancing the standing facility and strengthening the singapore government securities auction system, and bolstering investors ’ confidence in our financial system. reforming the regulatory framework has become a major issue internationally, and the emerging consensus is towards more stringent regulation. under the first pillar of sound financial institutions, mas is contributing to and helping to shape new regulatory standards being discussed at the financial stability board, the basel committee on banking supervision and other international standard - setting bodies. for example, discussions on liquidity risk management standards and the capital framework for banks are at an advanced stage. over the course of the next one to two years, we will be implementing changes to our regulatory framework to adopt these new standards. as mas ’ regulatory framework has generally been regarded as conservative, we are in a good position to adopt these standards. we are mindful of maintaining a balanced approach and not over - swinging the regulatory pendulum. we will work closely with and consult the industry and the public. in the area of regulatory standards, we will review the corporate governance regulations and guidelines for locally incorporated banks and significant life insurance companies, introduced in 2005 and which were implemented in 2007. mas ’ review will focus on the effectiveness of risk management at the board level, including the role played by boards in safeguarding the safety and soundness of their institutions and in addressing market conduct risks. this would include a review of the board ’ s role in setting remuneration policies to manage risks effectively. giving further impetus to risk management, the locally incorporated banks are conducting more detailed stress tests internally as part of their basel ii implementation process and the results will be used in their capital planning. for foreign banks, mas is continuing our close cooperation with home supervisors through regular discussions as well as participation in supervisory colleges. in the second area of ensuring well - functioning markets,

literacy in the moneysense programme, the framework will set out the basic knowledge and life skills individuals would need to make informed financial decisions at key life stages, starting at an early age, continuing through working life and into retirement. these decisions include managing budgets, setting aside adequate funds for emergencies, managing cpf savings prudently for retirement, assessing affordability when buying a property, and understanding and evaluating risks when investing in particular products. the financial sector development fund has set aside $ 10 million to fund financial educational programmes for the next three years. going forward, we will invite the public to contribute new and imaginative ideas on how financial education can be delivered more effectively. consumer education requires sustained efforts by each and everyone in the community. we will fund proposals that can best support the delivery of the knowledge and skills in the financial literacy competency framework. our next measure to maintain confidence is a review of the deposit insurance ( di ) scheme in singapore. as part of mas ’ continual efforts to enhance the regulatory framework in singapore, we are reviewing the di scheme to ensure it remains relevant, provides adequate protection to depositors and is in line with international practice. when the di scheme was started in april 2006, it targeted to fully insure the deposits of 80 - 90 % of individual depositors. in line with this, a limit of $ 20, 000 per individual depositor per institution was set, allowing 87 % of individual depositors to be fully insured. this coverage ratio has now come down to 83 %, the lower end of our targeted range. mas is considering raising the di coverage limit above $ 20, 000 to achieve a better coverage ratio and provide a better level of protection to depositors. we are mindful that this should not substantially increase the cost to the industry and indirectly to customers. we are targeting to conduct our review and consult the industry and public on the proposed changes over the next six to nine months, and will seek to implement the revisions to the deposit insurance scheme in 2010. strengthening research capabilities even as we deal with the immediate effects of the global crisis, we also continue to have our eye on building up capabilities in the longer term. the economic policy department in mas has run a successful visiting scholar programme since 2002. to support and strengthen research in finance and economics on a wider scale, mas announced today that it will sponsor a professorship in economics and finance at the national university of singapore ( nus ) for the next five years. this professorship also signifies mas ’ desire