Global: Singapore Teams Up With Japan, Switzerland, and the UK for Joint Cryptocurrency Pilots

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the nation’s central bank and financial regulator, has announced its plans to collaborate with several European countries and Japan to facilitate cryptocurrency-related cooperation.

In an official statement on October 30, the MAS revealed that it is partnering with the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA), the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom. The goal of this partnership is to promote joint digital asset pilot projects, with a focus on fixed income, foreign exchange, and asset management products.

This initiative is an extension of Singapore’s ongoing asset tokenization project, known as Project Guardian, which was initiated in 2022. Under Project Guardian, Singapore’s central bank worked in collaboration with 15 financial institutions to conduct pilot projects involving asset tokenization, showcasing the significant potential for transaction efficiency.

The MAS emphasized the need for closer cross-border collaboration among policymakers and regulators as these pilot projects expand in scale and complexity. To address this, the regulator has established a Project Guardian policymaker group, including the FSA, the FCA, and FINMA.

The objectives of this policymaker group are to initiate discussions on policy and accounting matters, identify potential risks and legal gaps related to digital assets and tokenized solutions, explore the development of common standards for designing digital asset networks, and identify best practices from various jurisdictions. The group will also work on interoperability, regulatory sandboxes, and educational initiatives related to the digital currency industry.

MAS’s Deputy Managing Director of Markets and Development, Leong Sing Chiong, expressed the intent behind this partnership, saying, “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 engaging with global financial authorities in the realm of digital currencies. In September 2023, the MAS successfully conducted a joint test involving the cross-border trading and settlement of wholesale central bank digital currencies in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements and the central banks of France and Switzerland.