Stakeholders have rated MAS favourably in most areas. For example, MAS' role in supervising financial institutions and bringing about a stable financial system in Singapore received positive feedback. I am heartened by this. More importantly, the industry also noted areas for improvement. Stakeholders, for instance, felt that MAS officers could be more attuned to commercial reality when formulating policies and decisions. MAS could improve the timeliness of its decision-making. MAS has taken note of the feedback and will work to improve its performance in these areas. 32. MAS' regular dialogue and consultation with the industry has worked well. We will now take this a step further by involving the industry at the early stages of policy formulation. This will give industry players the opportunity to shape policies. MAS will also be more open to suggestions of alternatives that achieve the same objectives. But for this new approach to produce results, both MAS and the industry must work together to build a high level of trust between them. Leveraging and building on our reputation 33. Looking ahead, we must continue to build and deepen relationships with the industry and our foreign counterparts. 34. To showcase Asia to the international community, the centrepiece for next year is the 2006 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings. In partnership with the private sector and relevant agencies, we are organising a host of seminars and events. Collectively, they are known as Singapore 2006 or S2006. S2006 is intended to create intellectual buzz and profile the dynamism and optimism in Asia. 35.
Christian Noyer: No moral hazard – the banks are doing their job Comment by Mr Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France, in the Financial Times, 18 September 2007. *  *  *  In recent weeks, Central Banks in Europe and the US have acted repeatedly to provide liquidity to interbank money markets. These interventions have raised some questions. Concerns were expressed that monetary authorities were bailing out speculators, thus creating the same kind of moral hazard that may have led to excesses in the past. There were also concerns as to whether the integrity of monetary policy would be compromised. These are valid questions. On numerous occasions, in the past, we pointed out the potential dangers that mispricing of credit risk posed for financial stability. We may be now seeing some of the consequences. Excessive risks were taken, and losses will have to be accepted. It is important that monetary and financial authorities take no action that would prevent this process from running its course, let alone be seeing to be condoning past or future excesses. However, the logic behind recent interventions is different. Put very simply, financial turbulence and uncertainty have suddenly triggered an upward shift in the demand for Central Bank money. Faced with such a shift, whose direction is apparent but amplitude uncertain, the choice, for monetary authorities, is clear: either accommodate, and provide temporary liquidity; or not, in which case, interest rates would have to rise to restore balance in the interbank market.