Singapore Fintech Regulatory Developments - September 2017

Factors still position Singapore positively for ICOs despite regulatory position

Despite clarifications in August 2017 that digital tokens will still be regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore is still a favoured destination for Blockchain startups looking to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). According to sources, the trend is due to extensive government support for fintech and, other factors such as Singapore’s tax-friendly environment. The fintech industry was recently provided US$166 million in funding for the growth of fintech. In addition, Singapore recently introduced a tokenised version of the Singapore dollar dubbed “Project Ubin,” which is based on an ethereum-based Blockchain. It is expected that Singapore will be at an advantage as China begins to ban ICOs this month. In other related news, a New York-based financial innovation company R3 partnered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to open a blockchain lab in Singapore which will involve the country’s stock exchange and eight local and foreign banks.

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