The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and financial regulator, is looking to initiate crypto-related projects with some European countries and Japan. The MAS has recently announced that it is joining forces with the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to carry out joint digital asset pilots. These pilots will focus on fixed income, foreign exchange and asset management products.
The MAS is also continuing its asset tokenization project known as Project Guardian, which was launched in 2022. The project is being carried out in cooperation with 15 financial institutions, with the goal of demonstrating the potential for transaction efficiency through asset tokenization.
The MAS has set up a Project Guardian policymaker group to include the FSA, the FCA and FINMA. This group is working to initiate policy and accounting discussions, identify potential risks and legal gaps related to digital assets and tokenized solutions, develop common standards for digital asset networks, explore interoperability and regulatory sandboxes, and create educational resources about the digital currency industry.
Leong Sing Chiong, MAS deputy managing director of markets and development, commented on the partnership: “MAS’ partnership with the FSA, the FCA and FINMA shows a strong desire among policymakers to deepen our understanding of the opportunities and risks arising from digital asset innovation. Through this partnership, we hope to promote the development of common standards and regulatory frameworks that can better support cross border interoperability, as well as sustainable growth of the digital asset ecosystem.”
Singapore has been actively partnering with global financial authorities in the digital currency space. In September 2023, Singapore MAS completed a joint test of cross-border trading and settlement of wholesale central bank digital currencies with the Bank for International Settlements and the central banks of France and Switzerland.