During the year, MAS continued to be involved in standard-setting work of international bodies and committees to enhance global supervisory standards and practices. This included the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Core Principles Liaison Group and its Working Group on Capital, a Working Group on Cross-border Banking, and two Task Forces, one on Accounting Issues5 and the other on Dealing with Weak Banks. The efforts of these working groups produced important papers issued by the Basel Committee last year, like “Internal Audit in Banks and the Supervisor’s Relationship with Auditors”, “Supervisory Guidance on Dealing with Weak Banks” and “Customer Due Diligence for Banks”. MAS is regularly invited to enlarged meetings of the G-10 Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS), Committee on the Global Financial System, Gold and Foreign Exchange Committee6, and the Group of Computer Experts, and participates in working groups established by these committees.
As one of the three Asian representatives on the Executive Committee, MAS continues to participate actively in the supervisory standard-setting work of the IAIS. In 2001, MAS became a member of the Emerging Markets Committee and Work Group on the Future and Financing Structure of the IAIS, in addition to its membership on other key IAIS committees.7
On the securities front, MAS plays an increasingly active role in the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). In 2001, MAS became co-chair of the CPSS-IOSCO Joint Task Force on Securities Settlement Systems, and hosted the 12th meeting in April 2002. MAS also joined IOSCO’s Standing Committee 2 on regulation of secondary markets. Other IOSCO committees that MAS participates in include Standing Committee 3 on regulation of market intermediaries and the Implementation Committee, which develops implementation and assessment methodologies for IOSCO’s Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation.
MAS continues to be at the forefront in examining regulatory issues arising from the use of information technology in international financial markets. As a member of the newly established IOSCO’s Internet Project Team, MAS contributes to IOSCO’s efforts in monitoring Internet-related market and regulatory developments and identify regulatory issues requiring further guidance. Under the initiative on Electronic Financial Transactions Systems in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Finance process, Singapore presented a case study on its e-Government system where it shared its experience in developing the Public Services Infrastructure, with a specific emphasis on its e-payment capabilities.
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