jacqueline loh : broadening and deepening shanghai - singapore cooperation keynote address by ms jacqueline loh, deputy managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the 4th shanghai - singapore financial forum, singapore, 27 november 2018. * * * shanghai municipal financial regulatory bureau, director general dr zheng yang distinguished speakers and guests ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. introduction 1 first, let me thank the shanghai municipal financial regulatory bureau ( “ sfrb ” ) for hosting the 4th shanghai - singapore financial forum. it is a great pleasure to see our good friends from shanghai and singapore at the forum today. bilateral cooperation between singapore and china 2 over the last five years of china - singapore financial cooperation, our central banks, regulators, and financial institutions have achieved significant milestones. in particular, bilateral ties in financial services between singapore and china strengthened significantly this year on the back of recent high - level visits between both countries. a. in september 2018, chinese vice premier han zheng visited singapore for the 14th joint council for bilateral cooperation ( “ jcbc ” ). the jcbc meeting saw financial agencies from both sides affirm the strong foundations laid through our collaboration in rmb internationalisation. we also agreed to strengthen supervisory cooperation, enhance financial markets connectivity and expand cooperation in the new area of fintech. b. in october this year, the third china securities regulatory commission ( “ csrc ” ) - mas supervisory roundtable was held here in shanghai, chaired by csrc vice chairman fang xinghai and mas deputy managing director ong chong tee. our regulators agreed to enhance information sharing and cross - border supervision of futures exchanges and intermediaries, as well as the substantive areas for cooperation in supervising exchange - trade derivatives. a mou on staff exchange was also signed. c. just two weeks ago, chinese premier li keqiang visited singapore for the 33rd asean summit and related meetings. a key outcome of the visit was the signing of the protocol to upgrade the china - singapore free trade agreement ( “ csfta ” ). as part of the visit, mas signed a fintech cooperation agreement with the people ’ s bank of china ( “ pbc ” ), and a mou for the cooperation and exchange of information on regulation of derivative activities with csrc. 3 to celebrate the success of china - singapore financial cooperation over the last five years and to tie - in with the commemoration of china ’ s 40 years of reform and opening up, we will be releasing an infographic during my visit

manager in jp morgan. with the support of jp morgan ’ s tuition assistance programme, hazel is currently pursuing a part - time business degree. the work - study arrangement allows her to apply theoretical knowledge to the real world and further hone her skillsets. ocbc bank has co - designed with ngee ann polytechnic a curated internship programme. the programme has provided 20 students with the opportunity to gain exposure to tech roles in finance that leads to potential employment with the bank. the 12 - month programme – double the duration of typical internships – ties in students ’ work projects with their final year core curriculum, making their learning more applied and practical. these examples show that with the right support and programmes, polytechnic graduates who are willing to put in their best can succeed in the financial sector. we need more financial institutions to do what jp morgan, ocbc, and some others are doing. and we need to scale up these efforts. mas is working with the industry to develop meaningful programmes and support mechanisms to facilitate the hiring of polytechnic graduates by financial institutions. the second group that we ’ re looking at is mid - career professionals from other sectors who are keen to pivot to the financial sector. this is already happening organically. take for example zainon yussof, who started her career as a customer service officer in the healthcare sector. last year, she took up a traineeship opportunity offered by blackrock, a global asset management firm. zainon learnt to help people plan their financial future and also picked up valuable tech programming skills. her background in customer service enabled her to address client queries effectively and collaborate with stakeholders to find solutions to problems. this landed her a permanent role, as an analyst with blackrock ’ s aladdin technology team. another example is edris boey. edris started her career as a financial auditor at kpmg. she then pivoted to a role in sustainability, advising clients on developing their sustainability strategies and carbon credit verification projects, a role that drew on her audit skills and new knowledge acquired from completing a master ’ s degree in environmental management. edris is now head of esg research at maitri asset management overseeing the firm ’ s esg investment framework. mas, workforce singapore ( wsg ) and the institute of banking & finance ( ibf ) have been working together to support more systematically such mid - career transitions to the financial sector. one key initiative is the technology in finance immersion programme ( tfip )