The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA) today signed a FinTech Co-operation Agreement (CA) to facilitate regulatory cooperation and partnerships in the FinTech field.
- CA will promote the following:
Regulatory Sandbox Collaboration – MAS and IFSCA will use existing regulatory sandboxes in their respective jurisdictions to support experimentation with technological innovation. This involves submitting companies to each other’s regulatory sandboxes and enables innovative cross-border experiments in both jurisdictions. The CA will also allow MAS and IFSCA to evaluate the suitability of use cases that could benefit from cross-jurisdictional cooperation and invite relevant jurisdictions to participate in the global regulatory sandbox.
Information sharing – MAS and IFSCA will share non-supervisory information and developments in financial product and service innovation, facilitate discussions on emerging FinTech issues and participate in joint innovation projects. The agreement was signed by Chief FinTech Officer of MAS, Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty, and Chief Technology Officer of IFSCA, Mr. Joseph Joshy, and witnessed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Deputy Chairman of MAS, Mr. Lawrence Wong, and Finance. Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Kanubhai Desai, Chairman, IFSCA, Mr. Injeti Srinivas, Chairman of GIFT Company Ltd., Mr. Sudhir Mankad, and Managing Director and CEO of GIFT Company Ltd., Mr. Tapan Ray.
Mr Mohanty said: “This CA builds on the Supervisory Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding signed between MAS and IFSCA in July 2022. The cross-border testing of use cases between Singapore and India will pave the way for the operationalization of a broader cooperation framework for multi-jurisdictional FinTech use cases.”
Welcoming the partnership with MAS, Mr. Joshy said, “This agreement is a landmark moment that opens the FinTech Bridge, which will serve as a launch pad for Indian FinTechs to Singapore and a landing pad for Singaporean FinTechs to India using regulatory sandboxes. Being able to collaborate globally on appropriate use cases through the Global Regulatory Sandbox is an exciting opportunity for the FinTech Ecosystem.”
- About MAS, the Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is Singapore’s central bank and integrated financial regulator. As a central bank, the MAS promotes sustained, non-inflationary economic growth through the conduct of monetary policy and rigorous macroeconomic surveillance and analysis. It manages Singapore’s exchange rate, official foreign exchange reserves and liquidity in the banking sector. As an integrated financial supervisor, MAS supports a healthy financial services sector through its prudential supervision of all financial institutions in Singapore – banks, insurance companies, capital market intermediaries, financial advisers and financial market infrastructures. It is also responsible for well-functioning financial markets, healthy behavior and investor education. MAS also works with the financial industry to promote Singapore as a dynamic international financial centre. Facilitates infrastructure development, technology adoption and skills enhancement in the financial industry.
- About IFSCA, International Financial Services Center Authority
The International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA) is a single authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centers of India. GIFT-IFSC located at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) is India’s first International Financial Services Center (IFSC). Established by the Government of India under the IFSCA Act, 2019, IFSCA has laid down principle-based regulatory frameworks that govern a myriad of activities such as banking, finance companies, capital markets, fund management, insurance, aircraft and ship leasing, etc. have been globally tested and designed to ensure ease of doing business.
