23 June, 2017
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas (ASBA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreeing to improve cooperation on the development of financial technology, or fintech, between Singapore and the Americas.
Both parties will explore potential joint innovation projects on technologies such as blockchain and big data, MAS said in a statement.
MAS and ABSA will also discuss emerging fintech trends and other issues relating to innovative financial services.
Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS said: "Fintech is fundamentally about ideas and enterprise flowing between cities. It requires bringing together a range of stakeholders. This MoU embodies MAS’ and ASBA’s resolve in accelerating the growth of fintech in the respective regions, through increased collaboration and exchanges between our respective ecosystems."
Singapore signed a similar deal with Abu Dhabi in March.
MAS launched a fintech sandbox in June 2016 to allow businesses to experiment with fintech products, shortly after the announcement of a 'fintech bridge' between Singapore and the UK allowing the sharing and use of information on "financial services innovation" by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Singapore's Monetary Authority (MAS).
MAS issued guidelines on the service in November 2016, based on submissions to a public consultation and feedback from initial users of the service, and launched a grant scheme to fund half the costs of Singapore-based fintech trials.
For further information, please contact:
Ian Laing, Partner, Pinsent Masons
ian.laing@pinsentmasons.com
