MAS claims Singaporean banks withstood stress test

Restates policy of not revealing test results.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has completed a stress test exercise involving all local and major foreign banks in Singapore early this year and concluded that Singapore's banking system is able to withstand adverse scenarios.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam revealed this recently and noted that local banks would be able to maintain adequate financial buffers above regulatory requirements under prescribed stress scenarios.The exercise was undertaken based on 2012 data and was part of regular annual tests.

Tharman said MAS does not publish stress test results as the regulator is obliged to keep the information provided by the financial institutions involved confidential. He revealed this test result in reply to a parliamentary question from a Member of Parliament.

Releasing the test results could also result in banks taking a narrow view of identifying risks and appropriate mitigating measures to achieve the right grade for the test.