Singapore, 8 September 2000... The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) held its second Technology in Finance (TiF) dialogue session on "Security Technologies in Banking and Commerce" this morning at the Raffles Hotel. The half-day event was well-attended by more than 120 participants, comprising mainly senior management and technology professionals from the financial sector, as well as technology companies, telecommunications and Information Technology service providers and government sector. The dialogue session provided a platform for the discussion and exchange of information on the adoption of best practices and standards in technology and security risk management.

At the dialogue session, Mr. Tony Chew, Director of the Market Infrastructure and Risk Advisory (MIR) Department in MAS, said that customers today are concerned with security and privacy issues when carrying out transactions over the Internet. He urged senior management of financial institutions to take the lead in reviewing their technology and risk management systems, given the increasing prevalence of Internet usage and sophistication of security systems. He also revealed that MAS will continue to work closely with overseas regulators to exchange perspectives on emerging risk issues and cross border supervision of banks. "Security and privacy is not purely a technological issue, but also an issue of perception. Through the combined efforts of financial institutions and MAS to enhance the safety and soundness of online financial services, it is hoped that public confidence is raised, so as to allow the financial sector to tap the full potential of what technology can offer", said Mr. Chew.

Several industry speakers also shared their perspectives and experiences on various aspects of technology risk in the financial sector. The speakers were from Baltimore Technologies, Brokat Asia, Cisco Systems USA, First-e and S1 Corporation.

MAS said it was very encouraged by the positive response from the participants and the constructive sharing of information. "MAS will continue to hold dialogues with financial institutions on best practices in risk management processes and systems. It is our hope that dialogue sessions, such as the one today, will provide the catalyst and facilitate developments in these areas", said Mr. Enoch Ch'ng, Senior Director and Head of the MIR Department in MAS in his closing remarks.