continue to evolve and present new challenges. for singapore's capital markets to capitalize on fresh opportunities, we must all, as regulators, as market participants and as an industry body, do our utmost to keep up with changes. i hope we can work in close partnership to break new grounds for the industry here. i believe there are 3 fundamental factors that will enable our capital markets to stay ahead. firstly, a high standard of industry practice, enabled by high industry standards, and a strong, responsive supervisory framework. secondly, a strong pool of market participants with deep expertise. thirdly, a good network among the players and regulators to promote collaboration and the introduction of new products ; as well as to promote singapore as the choice location for capital raising and trading. all these are to be done without of course undermining competition or investors'interests. i believe siba can play key roles in each of these areas. allow me to elaborate. 1 / 3 high standards to maintain confidence a fundamental building block of a good capital market is trust and integrity. investors must have confidence that the market is clean, transparent, and provides fair dealing for all participants. they demand a high standard of corporate governance, timely disclosures, and compliance with regulations. hence, mas, as well as other relevant agencies like the accounting and corporate regulatory authority and the singapore exchange, have actively worked on various initiatives to enhance disclosure, strengthen market discipline and improve corporate governance of listed companies. these efforts included the code of corporate governance, revisions to the sgx listing rules, as well as the introduction of the new civil penalty regime under the securities and futures act that provides an alternative enforcement mechanism. in september 2005, mas released the guidelines on corporate governance to provide guidance on the best practices for financial institutions on corporate governance. for banks, and direct life insurance companies above a certain size, requirements that mas considers essential for sound corporate governance are now embedded in directives for compliance. in response to the growing interest in islamic finance, we also amended our regulations to facilitate the growth of specific segments of the market. these changes will enable financial institutions to use singapore as a base to reach out to clients and investors beyond the region, especially in the middle east. clear regulatory treatment and tax rules can help to catalyse the development of markets. the rapid development of real estate investment trust, or reits, is a good example. since the launch of the first reit in july 2002, this segment has developed rapidly. today, the

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