lim hng kiang : the tokyo stock exchange and singapore speech by mr lim hng kiang, deputy chairman of the monetary authority of singapore and minister for trade and industry, at the tokyo stock exchange singapore representative office 10th anniversary, singapore, 14 december 2006. * * * congratulatory remarks i am delighted to be here with you this evening to celebrate the 10th anniversary of tokyo stock exchange singapore representative office. firstly, i would like to thank the tokyo stock exchange for its commitment to singapore and the region over the past decade and i hope tokyo stock exchange will continue to scale greater heights in coming years. growth of asia and japan when tokyo stock exchange established its overseas office in singapore in 1996, singapore and the region were experiencing strong economic growth with asian economies developing at rates of about 5 to 10 % per year. today, we continue to witness the rise of asia on the back of the twin drivers of china and india. prospects for south - east asia have improved considerably and japan, after years of stagnation, is firmly back on the track of healthy sustained growth and is a major investor in south - east asia. as of 2005, japan's fdi into south - east asia totaled $ 38 billion, and it is the top investor in indonesia, and the third largest investor in vietnam. changes in the global exchange landscape the competitive landscape in the global exchange arena has also changed significantly. equity and derivatives exchanges are consolidating globally in the bid to establish greater market share and to expand product offerings. the new york stock exchange - euronext cross - atlantic merger to create the first multi - time - zone exchange, and the recently announced merger between the chicago board of trade and the chicago mercantile exchange could lead to more centralized liquidity pool for derivatives trading in the us and europe. asian exchanges can do more - tse can take greater leading role the consolidation trend has yet to reach asia and asian exchanges may face the risk of marginalisation. in order to remain relevant, the asian exchanges may need to explore ways to deepen collaboration and product differentiation in the face of strong competition. in asia, the tokyo stock exchange is the largest stock exchange by market capitalization. since its establishment in 1878, it has grown to be the 2nd largest bourse globally, with a market capitalization of its listed companies exceeding us $ 4 trillion, second only to the new york stock exchange. it also registers high average daily trading volume for domestic equities of about us $ 19

total market capitalization of reits is close to s $ 12 billion, making singapore the second largest reit market in asia, after japan. singapore is now a preferred location for property owners to structure their reits. to further strengthen our regulatory framework for reits, so that this market segment can maintain its high reputation and grow in a sustained way, we have recently embarked on a consultation exercise to review the property fund guidelines governing reits. we expect to announce the results of our review soon, which will provide greater clarity on how we will be strengthening the reits regime to promote better governance of reits and further facilitate the growth of the industry. as market players, siba members understand commercial realities and market practices well. siba therefore plays a very important role in complementing mas to ensure that high standards and best practices are upheld in the market. i am therefore very glad that siba has taken this role seriously. in aug 2004, siba released the due diligence guidelines, which set out the basic principles on due diligence to be performed by issuer managers for initial public offerings. the guidelines raise the professional standards of issue managers, and help maintain investors'confidence in the quality of the issue. mas endorses these guidelines as a valuable guide to issue managers and underwriters on the level of due diligence expected of them as professional advisers and in meeting their obligations under the securities and futures act and sgx listing manual. mas appreciates that siba is now currently working to release a code of best practices on debt issuance. this code will serve as guidance on debt issuance. i believe this will enable issue managers to discharge their mandates better, and to address potential concerns of investors. such a code will be beneficial to issuers and issue managers, as well as to investors. developing deep expertise the second key factor in developing our market is expertise. investment banking is a knowledge - intensive, innovation - driven industry. a deep pool of highly trained and committed professionals is critical to enable the industry to thrive. the nurturing of these professionals should start from academic education, where knowledge and theories of investment banking could be imparted. this provides the foundation, to allow professionals to deepen knowledge and skills through on - the - job training and professional upgrading courses that focus on commercial issues and execution skills. with the experience and expertise among its members, siba is well - positioned to spearhead efforts to develop the pool of investment banking professionals in singapore