We worked with the industry to develop infrastructure for individual investors to participate in auctions of Singapore Government Securities and Treasury Bills via the ATMs of local banks, and to custodise these investments together with their equity investments in the Central Depository. To promote secondary market trading for individual investors, MAS and SGX will work towards having an SGS trading platform by the first quarter of next year. 28. To promote bilateral trade and investment between Singapore and China, MAS and the People’s Bank of China announced the establishment of a $ billion currency swap arrangement last week. We are working with our Chinese counterparts and banks to operationalise the swap line, and will announce details in due course. 29. The completion of the Marina Bay Financial Centre is timely as it provides the physical infrastructure for financial institutions as they gear up to take part in the next phase of Asia’s economic development. The industry has also continued to invest in talent even during the crisis, hiring over 800 graduates under the Finance Graduate Immersion Programme (FGIP) and the Finance Graduate Leadership Programme (FGLP). We will continue to work with the industry to invest in the development of talent and in deepening research. 4  BIS Review 103/2010  Conclusion 30. Let me now conclude. While Singapore has made a strong recovery from the recession, considerable risks and policy challenges remain in the global economy and financial markets.
On market conduct, MAS has issued two consultation papers on the sale of listed and unlisted investment products, to strengthen safeguards for retail customers and enhance MAS’ regulatory powers. We will be issuing our response to the feedback received in 2H2010. Proposals which do not require legislative amendments will be implemented first. Financial institutions will be expected to adopt the remaining proposals even before legislative implementation as good practice in conducting business with their customers. 14. MAS also issued the Guidelines on Fair Dealing last year. The Guidelines stress the responsibilities of the Board and Senior Management of financial institutions to set the corporate culture and direction to deliver fair dealing outcomes to customers. Over the last year, MAS has written to CEOs and Boards of major financial institutions to emphasise our expectations. We have noted increasing awareness among financial institutions of the importance of dealing fairly with customers. Going forward, MAS will continue to engage the Board and Senior Management of financial institutions, and assess their implementation of the Guidelines through off-site and on-site supervision. Financial institutions are also expected to conduct their own mystery shopping, while MAS’ mystery shopping exercise will serve as an independent check and benchmark practices across financial institutions. 15. In strengthening our regulatory and supervisory regimes, MAS will continue to maintain our balanced and consultative approach. We remain focused on achieving good regulatory outcomes that are appropriate to Singapore and seek to promote sustainable development of the financial sector. 16.