singapore market. easing the measures now would send a wrong signal. the calibrated adjustments by the government earlier this year do not signal the start of 4 / 10 bis central bankers'speeches an unwinding of the property cooling measures, as some commentators have suggested. mof, mnd, and mas stated this very clearly in their joint announcement in march and this remains the position. the statement also said that the current additional buyer ’ s stamp duty ( absd ) rates and loan - to - value ( ltv ) limits would be retained. mas has, on a few occasions, emphasised that the tdsr is a structural measure to ensure financial prudence and not a cyclical tool to be adjusted periodically. the adjustments in march were made for very specific reasons and purposes. the sellers stamp duty ( ssd ) holding period was shortened and the rates lowered because speculative flipping of properties had declined significantly. mortgage equity withdrawal loans ( mwls ) with ltv ratios of 50 % or less were excluded from the tdsr framework to give home owners greater flexibility to monetise their properties for retirement needs. - this is for a very small category of people : we estimate that mwls excluded from the tdsr framework made up just 1 % of new private housing loans granted in the last three months. over the medium - term, property prices should be aligned with broader income trends in the economy. ultimately, residential property purchases are financed out of buyers ’ income. in turn, income growth depends on gdp growth. if property prices increase faster than nominal gdp growth on a sustained basis, buyers would end up taking on more leverage than they can reasonably repay out of their incomes. such highly - leveraged households will be particularly vulnerable when interest rates rise or their incomes fall. therefore, market participants – owner - occupiers, investors, developers – need to set realistic expectations regarding future property price increases. mas, together with mof and mnd, will continue to keep a close watch over developments in the property market. mas ’ financial performance after contribution to the consolidated fund, mas made a net profit of s $ 24. 3 billion for fy2016 / 17. this is a record profit but as i have often reminded at these briefings, mas ’ profit and loss outcomes are subject to sharp swings. they do not reflect the underlying investment approach of the mas which is conservative and emphasises steady, long - term returns. the profit outturn for the last fy reflects positive

assets under management has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 28 % over the past 5 years. but we need to do more – given the growing numbers of asian growth companies and their tendency to stay private for longer and not go the ipo route. we are simplifying the regulatory framework for vc managers. we are working with the industry to foster a deeper and more comprehensive ecosystem for venture capital and private equity. initiatives include : anchoring more regional and global vc and pe players in singapore ; 7 / 10 bis central bankers'speeches deepening the talent pool ; enhancing ancillary professional services to better support vc activity ; and building a pipeline of alternative market platforms that can facilitate private market exits for pe / vc investors. second, we are working to strengthen singapore ’ s value proposition for asian companies to issue bonds. the growth potential for asian bonds remains strong, particularly as companies in the region are looking to fund their growing operations and raise longer term capital. let me mention three schemes that mas has put in place to make singapore the choice location for regional bond issuance. to attract new asian issuers to singapore ’ s bond market, mas introduced the asian bond grant scheme earlier this year. under the grant, mas will co - fund up to s $ 400, 000 of issuance - related expenses for firsttime asian issuers. to support bond issuers adopting environmentally sustainable practices, there is a green bond grant scheme. the scheme will offset up to s $ 100, 000 of the costs relating to the external review required of a green bond. and the latest – to encourage issuers to be rated and to nurture a healthy credit rating culture in the sgd bond market, mas will soon be introducing a sgd credit rating grant. issuers can claim 100 % of their credit rating expenses, up to s $ 400, 000 per issuer. details will be released shortly. we strongly encourage regular domestic issuers to consider obtaining ratings. third, we are working to expand the industry ’ s capacity to finance asian companies ’ international trade activities. trade financing needs will grow as asian companies expand and internationalise. we need innovative solutions to make trade finance an investible asset, so as to attract a broader pool of investors and provide banks the capacity to originate new trade finance lending. one such innovation is the capital and credit risk manager ( ccrm ), an electronic trading platform for trade finance assets. launched just last month, with 16 financial institutions globally participating, the ccrm aims