Australia and Singapore to deepen collaboration in FinTech

By Leandra Monteiro

Australia Treasury and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have signed the Australia-Singapore FinTech Bridge Agreement to strengthen cooperation between the FinTech ecosystems of both countries.

The commencement of discussions to develop the FinTech Bridge was announced in June 2021, when Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The FinTech Bridge aims to build on the overarching framework for digital economy cooperation under the Australia-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) to deepen collaboration between the FinTech ecosystems of both countries.

The FinTech Bridge will support both FinTech ecosystems now and in the future, with both the Australia Treasury and the MAS committed to ensuring that it will be a living agreement.

The Australia-Singapore FinTech Bridge sets out a framework for both authorities to:

• deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on FinTech, to facilitate trade, investment and ecosystem development in the FinTech sector;
• support the mutual establishment of FinTechs looking to expand in each other’s markets, and to encourage FinTechs to use the facilities and assistance available to explore new business opportunities and reduce barriers to entry;
• build on current engagements to strengthen linkages between Australia and Singapore for policy officials, regulators, and industry groups; work together to share FinTech expertise and encourage the development of new opportunities; and
• explore joint innovation projects on emerging issues in FinTech to help the industry navigate through a constantly evolving space, to share information on emerging market trends, and to learn from the experiences in each jurisdiction. This includes collaboration in areas such as blockchain and distributed ledger technology, digital identities, cross-border data connectivity, data portability, and the application of FinTech to promote sustainable finance.

The FinTech Bridge agreement continues the long history of forging trade agreements between Australia and Singapore and follows the signing of the Australia-Singapore DEA in 2020. Such agreements help our businesses to seize local, regional and global opportunities arising from the digital boom that is crossing borders, reshaping industries, and transforming economies in the region.