MAS to allow banks here to also invest in foreign e-commerce platforms

SINGAPORE banks will be allowed to buy stakes in e-commerce platforms outside of Singapore as well, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) told The Business Times on Thursday, as MAS this week announced that banks here would soon be able to invest in digital consumer platforms such as Carousell and Qoo10.

This is so that banks can invest in such "permissible non-financial businesses" that complement their core financial businesses. Such platforms would either sell consumer goods, or match buyers and sellers of consumer goods and services.

The change, as announced by Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat this week, will cap such investments at 10 per cent of the bank's capital funds.