ravi menon : securing good jobs in a growing financial industry remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the inauguration of bnp paribas ’ asia pacific campus, singapore, 7 march 2014. * * * alain papiasse, deputy chief operating officer and head of corporate and investment banking, bnp paribas group, eric raynaud, chief executive officer of bnp paribas asia pacific, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. i am delighted to join you today to celebrate the opening of bnp paribas ’ new asia pacific campus here in singapore. it is a truly impressive campus, skilfully combining the charms of a colonial heritage building with state - of - the - art facilities and technologies. a significant move the opening of this campus in singapore is significant for a few reasons. • first, it demonstrates bnp paribas ’ firm commitment to strengthening the capabilities of its staff in asia. this is bnp paribas ’ first corporate training centre outside of france. • second, it shows strategic foresight. bnp paribas took the decision to invest in this campus three years ago, when it was facing a very challenging economic environment with the eurozone gripped by crisis. • third, it reflects in a way a broader story of the continued importance of asia to european banks. after almost two years of stagnation, european bank lending to asia has started to rise again. in the area of trade finance for example, recent data shows that european banks are increasing their trade finance activities and have even regained some market share in singapore. three dimensions of a successful finance professional the financial industry in asia and singapore will continue to grow and generate good jobs. • in 2013, singapore ’ s financial sector grew by 11 %, against an overall gdp growth rate of 4. 1 %. growth was supported by increased activities in areas such as corporate transaction banking, trade finance, fund management, private banking and re / insurance. • last year, a total of 4, 500 jobs were created in the financial sector, most of them in higher value - added activities. the demand for highly qualified finance professionals will only grow in the coming years. to take advantage of this opportunity, our finance professionals must acquire three things : • depth in core competencies • cross - functional adaptability • asian knowledge and expertise first, depth in core competencies. jobs in the financial industry are becoming more complex, requiring deeper knowledge,

. a too - rapid adjustment of monetary policy could trigger the materialisation of some of the risks mentioned. a too - gradual adjustment may ultimately force policy to be tightened more rapidly to contain overheating, thus giving rise to the “ snap - back ” scenario. by the same token, the persistence of very easy financial conditions and very low volatility extends the “ search for yield ” behaviour of investors and the build - up of vulnerabilities in the financial system. in this regard, effective communication by central banks throughout the monetary normalisation process will be key to helping anchor financial conditions, despite the threat of heightened volatility. second, in this complex environment, it is particularly important to emphasise the role played by one of the major policy innovations generated during the financial crisis, namely the development of macroprudential policy frameworks. the proper and timely use of the new macroprudential tools, together with the regulatory and supervisory overhaul of the global banking system undertaken in recent years, should help to contain the build - up of financial imbalances. however, given its novelty it ’ s difficult to know ex - ante how effective these new macroprudential tools will be. in addition, multiple new challenges remain and need to be dealt with. let me mention a few of them : ( i ) the reinforcement of policy measures to address bank - like risks stemming from the activities of non - banks, which have significantly increased in recent years ; ( ii ) the emergence of new risks, such as those derived from financial technology or cybersecurity ; 4 / 5 ( iii ) the strengthening of sustainable finance to address environmental risk, and ( iv ) the creation or expansion of global and regional backstops. i am certain that our speakers in this conference will address these and other interesting matters. indeed we will have the opportunity to explore this subject in depth through nine selected articles by prominent researchers. actually, we are most privileged to have with us two distinguished keynote speakers, ricardo reis and torben andersen, who will no doubt illuminate us on these important matters. this two - day conference is organised in four sessions : the first will address certain money and market - related aspects. during the second session we will try to shed some light on the propagation of shocks when considering higher - order statistical moments of economic and financial variables. the third session will deal with two issues related to risk which are important for central banks, namely the credit risk associated with monetary policy