the negative effects on the capacity for recovery and medium - term economic growth. thus, march 2021 saw the approval of an aid package for the corporate sector and the self - employed that could be a useful tool. indeed, this instrument could specifically reduce the risk of the pandemic triggering the closure of those firms and businesses that are particularly stressed as a result of its effects, but which remain viable. in this connection, it is particularly important that the package be implemented swiftly and consistently, and that the allocation mechanisms allow this aid to be targeted specifically at viable firms experiencing solvency problems. flexibility is also required as regards the volume of earmarked funds. these ought to be adapted in line with how the pandemic unfolds and whether or not the risks materialise. in the case of non - viable firms, winding - up processes would have to be expedited in order to prevent them from consuming resources that could be more beneficial in other activities. as i mentioned earlier, these economic policy measures would help prevent the crisis from taking on a financial crisis complexion that may make it a lot more persistent. thus, the banking sector could continue to be part of the solution to the crisis, as it has to date, by lending to households and firms and helping reactivate the economy when the pandemic is over. for this, a smoothly functioning credit channel — of such importance in european economies and, of course, in the spanish economy — will surely be required. allow me to conclude this part of my address with a final reflection on the need to persevere with a european response to this crisis in the financial sphere as well. in the current context of uneven and uncertain recovery, we cannot rule out the possibility that the economic impact of the pandemic and the persistence of these effects may be greater than expected. in the banking sphere, the response to the possible materialisation of these risks can only be at the european level, given the commitment to the banking union. in this response, the completion of the banking union with the approval of a fully mutualised european deposit insurance scheme would make a decisive contribution to ensuring financial stability in the euro area, both over the coming months and in the medium term. further deepening of the capital markets union project is also essential. moreover, priority must be given to analysing how adequate the european resolution and winding - up regulations are for a hypothetical systemic crisis, and the possible role of asset management companies in the event of severe impairment of

depth. product range has also increased significantly. structured products now account for more than half of the singapore dollar bond market. the asset securitisation market has also gained traction, recording a fivefold increase since 1999. to further enhance the attractiveness of asian capital markets, mas has, over the past year, worked with various governments in the region to encourage investor demand, and to address market access and market infrastructure issues. the asian bond fund or abf is one such initiative. after the successful launch of abf 1, the executives ’ meeting of east asia - pacific central bankers or emeap is making good progress on abf2 to invest in local currency - denominated asian bonds. the emeap group believes that abf2 will promote the development of index bond funds in the regional markets. we are also working with our asean counterpart on an investors seminar to take place later in the year to raise global awareness of our capital markets. the treasury industry continued to grow robustly. foreign exchange and credit trading activities were underpinned by market volatility and a slew of bond issuance in asia. to support the broad - based growth in the financial services sector, much attention was placed over the past year on manpower and skills development. the financial sector manpower conversion scheme, launched recently, will contribute to ensuring a ready supply of skilled manpower in relevant growth areas. v playing a more active role in the international arena over the last year, we have continued our active role in regional cooperation, formulation of international regulatory standards, and active dialogue with our regional and international counterparts. this reflects our recognition of the importance of closer cooperation in a highly interconnected global market. these efforts are also in keeping with singapore ’ s role as an international financial centre. we work closely with our asean counterparts to speed up financial sector liberalisation in the region. beyond asean, we are actively involved in emeap. last week, we successfully hosted the emeap governors ’ meeting as well as the first emeap - eurosystem high - level seminar. in the international regulatory front, we recently assumed the chair of the asia pacific regional committee ( aprc ) of the international organisation of securities commissions ( iosco ), and sit on the iosco executive committee. we have also assumed the chair of the emeap working group on banking supervision, which will facilitate the region ’ s discussion on implementation of basle ii. we are committed to regional and international co - operative efforts