The cooperation sets out how the regulators plan to share and use information on financial services innovation in their respective markets, according to a statement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Both MAS and the FCA will be able to refer local fintech firms to each other.
“This will help innovative firms from Singapore that want to bring new ideas to the UK”, and at the same “help those British firms with new ideas who want to expand into Singapore support,” Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at UK’s FCA, said in the statement.
Jacqueline Loh, MAS’ deputy managing director, said the cooperation would “support fintech innovators who wish to use Singapore as a base for collaboration and as a gateway to other markets in Asia.
“[It] will also create opportunities for Singapore-based companies to grow and scale into the UK market.”
The agreement follows Singapore’s move to set up a fintech office earlier this month, hoping to build a “smart financial center”.
The UK fintech sector generated £6.6bn ($9.52bn) in revenue in 2015 and has 60,000 employees.
Hong Kong, however, has the highest rate of financial technology use in the world, according to an EY survey.
