Active supervision 'vital for banking'
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Mr Patrick Daniel (second from right), editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings' English and Malay Newspapers Division, receiving a cheque for ChildAid from Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit (third from right) at the Flower Dome in Gardens By The Bay yesterday. Looking on are (from left) Citi's Asia-Pacific CEO Stephen Bird, DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Mr Don Callahan, Citigroup's chief administrative officer. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
A culture of responsibility and robust regulation is vital for healthy and sustainable banking, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Tuesday.
Mr Tharman, who is also Finance Minister and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said: "Active and sometimes intrusive supervision of banks, and particularly of global banks, has to be at the foundation for stable banking and finance."
Supervision is a responsibility that the regulator has to perform, he said.
Critically, refocusing on responsible culture within banks is also needed, he added, rather than the overemphasis on the structures and sizes of banks in current policy debates.
