Singapore and the UK strengthen their FinTech partnership

By Leandra Monteiro

The UK and Singapore have agreed a new MoU boosting FinTech trade and cooperation at the 7th Financial Dialogue in Singapore held on 25 November.

The Fintech bridge builds on an agreement signed in 2016 that will remove barriers to FinTech trade by opening new regular conversations between regulators and businesses, in addition to previous areas of cooperation. This will increase cooperation and the sharing of information about new trends in the FinTech sector. It will also break down trade barriers for UK and Singaporean FinTechs, increasing growth and investment opportunities.

Andrew Griffith MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said, “The UK and Singapore are among the world’s leading jurisdictions for fintech investment – and today’s announcement will only accelerate growth and innovation in our respective sectors. The agreement we have announced today is crucial – and I would like to thank the Monetary Authority of Singapore for their constructive engagement through the discussions.”

CEO of Innovate Finance, Janine Hirt said: “Innovate Finance welcomes this announcement. A UK-Singapore MoU will deliver a strengthened framework for key regulatory and policy discussions between the two countries, enable innovation across financial services, and ensure that businesses based in both the UK and Singapore has the ongoing support for their growth ambitions to be realised.

We look forward to supporting future economic dialogues and business to business activity between these markets. We are also delighted to be working with the key organizations engaged to promote the opportunities this FinTech bridge has to offer and to welcome FinTech businesses to IFGS and UK FinTech Week next year.”

Miles Celic, Chief Executive, TheCityUK, said: “The UK and Singapore are two of the world’s most dynamic and innovative FinTech markets. The FinTech bridge will drive exciting new opportunities, and greater alignment of regulatory approaches will help the expansion of FinTechs from the UK and Singapore into each other’s markets. Greater collaboration between authorities, regulators and industry will increase innovation and provide better results for customers.

This MoU will also further deepen the engagement and opportunities between two of the premier international financial and related professional service centers.”

The existing Regulatory Cooperation Agreement signed in 2016 has enabled the UK and Singaporean FinTech sectors to closely align at a regulatory level. The latest commitment goes further in a number of areas, clarifying the business support available to businesses, highlighting opportunities in each other’s markets and creating a clear link between challenges facing businesses and policy discussions.