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.
Chart 3: Share of bank and non-bank financing in total non-financial corporation debt financing in the euro area and the United States (outstanding amounts; percentages)  3 / 12  BIS central bankers' speeches  Chart 4: Total debt financing of NFCs and MFI loans to NFCs in the euro area (annual changes in percent)  4 / 12  BIS central bankers' speeches  Such diversification in financing sources is good for the economy, making business investment more resilient throughout business cycles. The underlying strength of the euro area economy continues to support our confidence that the sustained convergence of inflation to our aim will proceed. Euro area annual HICP inflation has continued to increase and stood at 2.2% in October 2018, mainly reflecting higher energy price inflation. On the basis of current futures prices for oil, headline inflation is likely to hover around current levels in coming months. While measures of underlying inflation remain generally muted, they have been increasing from earlier lows, amid high levels of capacity utilisation and tightening labour markets. Looking ahead, underlying inflation is expected to increase further over the medium term, supported by our monetary policy measures, the ongoing economic expansion 5 / 12  BIS central bankers' speeches  and rising wage growth. Overall, though, significant monetary policy stimulus is still needed to support the build-up of domestic price pressures and headline inflation developments over the medium term.