a “ super - cycle ”. emerging asia economies refer to china, india, korea, hong kong, taiwan, singapore, thailand, malaysia, indonesia and the philippines. excluding the hong kong dollar. bis central bankers ’ speeches • fourth, the effects of an impending interest rate hike in the us – the first after seven years of extremely easy monetary policy – are being priced in across asian markets. these are not necessarily unwelcome developments. the correction in china ’ s stock market is not surprising given the stretched valuations that had developed over the preceding year. and it serves to deflate some of the excesses that have built up in the system, such as the rapid rise in margin financing. the 2. 5 % depreciation of the rmb against the us dollar since august is consistent with the divergence in growth momentum between china and the us. it must also be seen in the context of the 15 % appreciation of the rmb in real effective terms during the year to july. the move towards a more market - determined exchange rate is in line with the broader liberalisation and internationalisation of the currency. the gradual tightening of financial conditions in emerging asia as interest rates normalise in the us will serve to rein in the excessive credit expansion seen in some of the regional economies in recent years. it is not a bad thing to break the psychology of monetary overdependence on the part of markets and even some policymakers. talk of currency wars is over - blown and comparisons with the asian financial crisis are over - done. to be sure, some of the gyrations in financial markets have reflected concerns among investors about the moderation of growth in asia. • the sluggish recovery in the g3 economies has taken the wind from many tradeoriented asian economies. • at the same time, the transition to domestic - led growth has been bumpy. structural reforms to raise human capital, spur new investments and reduce impediments to growth have not proceeded quickly enough in many countries. so, downside risks remain, and there may be further bumps along asia ’ s growth trajectory. but asia is still expected to grow faster than other emerging economies. • in china, debt overhang and excess capacity will be a drag. but sustained monetary and fiscal stimulus measures should help to pre - empt a sharp slippage in economic activity. • in the asean countries, a slowdown in export growth will have a negative impact. but public infrastructure spending and private

fics was introduced. it is now timely for a review of the fics standards. ibf will be working with its group of lead providers to re - look the fics framework and the curriculum covered by the current standards. please come forward to give us your views. when we met at last year ’ s conference, we had indicated that ibf will study the feasibility of introducing “ common examinations ” for the industry. i am happy to report that ibf has since worked with the industry to roll out the corporate banking common examination. a new client advisor competency standards ( cacs ) assessment for the private banking industry is also slated to be introduced in september this year. these two examinations will allow relationship managers – those dealing with either corporate clients or high net - worth individuals – to be independently tested on their product knowledge. we also want to raise the competency levels of professionals dealing with the broader retail investor base. ibf will roll out in the third quarter of this year, new modules under the masregulated capital markets and financial advisory services ( cmfas ) examination. these bis central bankers ’ speeches new modules aim at raising the minimum competency standards for cmfas representatives who wish to sell “ structured products ”. despite these efforts, talent remains scarce in the industry. bankers i speak to express concern about the sufficiency of skilled talent to sustain the growth of the financial industry. pwc ’ s 2011 global ceo survey conducted among 1, 200 business leaders world - wide revealed that talent issues are topmost of ceo concerns. every good ceo knows that it is not just business strategies, processes and technologies which drive new revenue streams. it is people with strong competencies and professional integrity, dedicated to serving the customer, who make the critical difference. financial institutions must put in place policies and practices to ensure that their staff are well trained before they are allowed to deal with clients. singapore ’ s financial sector headcount is expected to grow by 5 to 6 per cent this year. this translates to at least 6, 000 – 7, 000 new jobs for the financial industry annually. we should come together to invest in adding to the talent pool here, and avoid unproductive poaching from within the industry. mas and ibf will continue to work with the industry to see how we can extend more competency - based skills training to new entrants joining the industry. more than any other industry perhaps, the financial industry depends on talent. identifying, nur