Singapore must be at forefront of the blockchain technology race

SINGAPORE'S status as one of the world's major financial centres has enabled it to set standards for fiduciary responsibility. With disruption sweeping through the global financial industry, keeping the financial hub status has become increasingly dependent on the ability to set standards in the use of technology to deliver a top-notch level of customer service.

Hence, a recent speech by Ravi Menon, Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) managing director, stating in clear terms that innovation and technology will be the main drivers in Singapore's financial services sector (as across the economy as a whole) is welcome news.

Delivering a keynote address at a global blockchain business conference in India earlier this month, Mr Menon noted that distributed ledger technology (DLT), also known as blockchain, has the potential to transform many industries and economic activities.