iZettle, another Swedish company, has a service that converts your smartphone into a card terminal. There are several other innovative payment services on the market and under development. 9 There is a growing interest in this issue in the central bank world. For instance, the Bank of England has begun to study this question, as has the Bank of Canada, see http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2016/886.aspx and http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2016/06/fintech-financial-ecosystemevolution-revolution/  7 [10]  In the first case, with accounts in the Riksbank, the e-krona would be fairly similar to the central bank money that we currently have in our payment system. These e-krona would not be lost if, for instance, the consumer lost his or her telephone, if that is where they are stored. The amount of central bank money can also change rapidly and at the pace determined by the demand from the general public. It is possible, although it does not need to be the case, that this would make it more difficult for the Riksbank to carry out the fine-tuning operations that we use to steer the short-term rate, that is, the starting point for interest-rate setting in Sweden. If we instead have a digital unit that can be transferred decentralised between two people, other complications will arise. Could such a solution be compatible with the regulations on counteracting money laundering and terrorist financing? How would we prevent digital units of value being copied, that is, counterfeited? Convey e-krona directly to the general public or through the banks?
All these developments reflect Singapore’s ideal position for asset managers to deepen and broaden their activities in the Asian time-zone. Annual accounts 28. On our financial statements, MAS recorded a net profit of $ billion for the financial year. The profits comprised mainly interest income, as changes in the valuation of foreign assets and the foreign exchange effects of a stronger Singapore dollar largely offset each other. Total assets, including the Currency Fund, grew by $ billion during the year to $ billion at end-March 2008. 4  BIS Review 94/2008  Remaining vigilant 29. We need to remain vigilant in the face of a number of risks in the global economic and financial environment. We will continue to work closely with the industry to identify vulnerabilities and threats to financial stability through macro surveillance and stress testing. MAS’ work in the coming year will continue to be driven by our mission of supporting noninflationary economic growth, and fostering a sound and reputable financial centre. 30. Thank you. BIS Review 94/2008  5