Singapore and UK launch Financial Partnership for greater cooperation

SINGAPORE and the United Kingdom launched a new Financial Partnership at the sixth UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue held virtually on Wednesday.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and HM Treasury announced in a joint statement that the two countries will explore opportunities for greater financial cooperation to drive new and broader opportunities for financial services trade and cooperation. The potential areas for collaboration include enhanced information sharing, closer cooperation in international fora and regulatory deference.

Senior Minister and MAS chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to mark the new partnership and to signal the two sides' commitment to "a more comprehensive and enhanced relationship in financial services and to strengthen regulatory cooperation between the two countries".

Representatives from both countries signed another MoU to enhance bilateral cybersecurity cooperation, including sharing cyber-related information and supervisory best practices.

Mr Tharman called the enhanced financial partnership "important and timely", noting: "With the UK hosting COP26 in November, and Singapore pushing ahead with its Green Finance Action Plan to support Asia's transition to a low-carbon economy, our collaboration will add momentum to sustainable finance, climate-related financial disclosure and the development of carbon markets. These are areas where it is critical and urgent to forge international alignment."

He added that the strengthened regulatory cooperation will "provide a framework for the growth of new activities in both our markets" as technology accelerates transformation in the financial-services industry.

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Mr Sunak said the agreement shows that the UK is "both open to the world and committed to maintaining the highest standards of regulation".

"Our financial partnership will help increase investment and trade with Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region and boost collaboration on important areas such as fintech and green finance," he said.

The Financial Dialogue on Wednesday discussed areas of joint interest such as regulatory cooperation, green finance and carbon markets, and fintech and stablecoins. (A stablecoin is a digital currency that is linked to an underlying asset such as a national currency or a precious metal such as gold.)

An industry-led business roundtable will take place on Thursday to discuss approaches and potential collaboration between Singapore and the UK to support the transition towards low-carbon and scaling voluntary carbon markets.