Propine graduates from MAS’ FinTech Regulatory Sandbox

By Edil Corneille

Singapore-based Propine, an end-to-end securities services firm catering for digital securities services to institutional clients, announced that it has become the first independent Digital Asset Custody service provider to graduate from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) FinTech Regulatory Sandbox.

Since its admission to the Sandbox to provide independent digital asset custody services on November 8, 2019, Propine offers a full range of services adapted to financial markets and regulatory trends across digital asset custody, asset servicing, trade settlement facilitation, investor reporting as well as services catering to global security issuers.

With the approval from MAS to exit the regulatory sandbox on January 7, 2021, Propine has graduated successfully with the CMS Licence and is now fully operational.

Milestone for digital asset custody

“Huge thanks to MAS for our successful experimentation and exiting the regulatory sandbox. Having a clear regulatory framework is of vital importance for the safe development of security token. This allows hesitant but eager institutions waiting on the sidelines, to be able to participate in tokenization. Compliant infrastructure is a rock bed on which the foundations of the security token ecosystem are created,” said Chief Executive Officer, Tuhina Singh.

“We will continue to engage MAS and other regulators to keep up to date with market developments as well as taking the lead in setting market standard practices and developing the ecosystem, to ensure that there is transparency in our services and the activities adhere to the services authorised,” she continued.

Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS said, “The digital asset ecosystem, fuelled by financial technology and innovation, is growing at an accelerated rate in the financial industry. It is crucial to safeguard and service these digital assets effectively yet efficiently so that trust in this ecosystem can be maintained. MAS’ regulatory sandbox has provided Propine a safe space to experiment with its dual-layer multi-signatory custody solution that is blockchain-agnostic. We look forward to seeing digital asset custody solutions taking root in Singapore and abroad.”

Role as an independent third-party custodian

As the digital asset market continues to grow, custody is said to remain as one of the significant obstacles to investment in such assets.

“The role of Propine in safekeeping and servicing these assets is becoming ever more important. With our dedicated resources, managing digital assets through our custody solutions will increase security and operational efficiency while reducing risk and complication faced by accredited and institutional investors,” said Chief Technology Officer, Liang Zan Wong.

Moving forward

Propine hopes that the graduation from MAS’ regulatory sandbox would spur more FinTech companies in the region to follow suit.

“Propine’s graduation from MAS’ FinTech Regulatory Sandbox is a recognition of their efforts in satisfying the regulatory standards and licensing conditions set by MAS,” said General Manager, SEEDS Capital, Geoffrey Yeo. “As an independent custodian for digital assets recognised by MAS, Propine will be able to help more enterprises and institutional investors participate in the digital assets economy, and this will serve to support the growth of the digital assets ecosystem in Singapore and the region.”

Founding Partner, Woodstock Fund, Pranav Sharma commented that his company is excited to back Propine for many reasons. “Propine is looking at a global play, and thereby continues to strengthen its presence across the region, under the purview of a progressive regulator, MAS,” he said. “Propine has a terrific team with relevant backgrounds and grit. With the rising of global adoption for institutional digital assets, Propine as a first mover will definitely benefit from the corresponding increase in demand for digital asset custody and asset tokenization service.”