The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and financial regulator, is planning cryptocurrency-related cooperation with a number of European countries and Japan.
MAS official declare On October 30, it collaborated with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to promote a joint digital asset pilot. The agency specifically seeks to launch such pilots in fixed income, foreign exchange and asset management products.
The plan is based on Singapore’s ongoing asset tokenization project “Project Guardian”, which will be launched in 2022. With the support of MAS Project Guardian, the Bank of Singapore completed an asset tokenization pilot in partnership with 15 financial institutions, demonstrating the huge potential for transaction efficiency.
“As the scale and complexity of the pilots continue to increase, closer cross-border cooperation between policymakers and regulators is required,” MAS wrote, adding that regulators have therefore established a group consisting of the FSA, FCA and FINMA Project Guardian Policy Makers Group.
The goal of the group is to initiate policy and accounting discussions and identify potential risks and legal gaps related to digital assets and tokenization solutions. The project also seeks to explore the development of common standards for digital asset network design and identify best practices across jurisdictions. Other areas of work include interoperability, regulatory sandboxes and education related to the digital currency industry.
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Leong Sing Chiong, deputy managing director of markets and development at MAS, said: “MAS’s collaboration with the FSA, FCA and FINMA demonstrates policymakers’ strong desire to deepen our understanding of the opportunities and risks presented by digital asset innovation.” He added:
“Through this partnership, we hope to promote the development of common standards and regulatory frameworks to better support cross-border interoperability and the sustainable growth of the digital asset ecosystem.”
Singapore has been actively cooperating with global financial authorities in the digital currency field. In September 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore cooperated with the Bank for International Settlements and the French and Swiss central banks to complete a joint test of wholesale central bank digital currency cross-border transactions and settlements.
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