MAS + NRF + NUS = support digital financial services in Asia.
Yes, this is not some annotation but news when the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) partnered with the National Research Foundation and the National University of Singapore to create an institute that will support the needs of digital financial offerings in Asia.
Formed by the three institutions, this will now be called the Asian Institute of Digital Finance (AIDF), aiming to strengthen education, research, and entrepreneurship in the arena of digital finance in the said region.
In the announcement released by MAS, the AIDF is set to fix its eyes on multi-disciplinary research projects like those in digital infrastructure, anti-money laundering, cyber fraus, and performance optimization.
To meet the standards, they said they would develop the area on digital assets, technology, and artificial intelligence. This will also ensure that sustainability and resiliency needs are met. According to Ravi Menon, the Managing Director of the MAS, the founding of this institution will add to Singapore’s rich and vibrant FinTech ecosystem.
He also said that utilizing applied research and active engagement that will be seen in the industry, it will come to pass. Furthermore, AIDF will help to build promising capabilities in terms of digital finance and FinTech discipline. Singapore is dubbed as the center of the fastest-growing digital finance market in the world.
Thus, the Institute will pave the way for the spread of knowledge and skills among FinTech leaders in the region and give a backbone and aid digitalization of economies in ASEAN and beyond.
In a separate interview with Sopnendu Mohanty, the Chief FinTech Officer at MAS, the executive said they are hopeful about this development, as it will provide diversity and networks among the alumni network and some international leaders well.
In relevant news about crypto, they published a consultation paper initially in late July 2020 to suggest a new set of regulations to stabilize the country’s emergence and need of crypto.
The said circular is set to enhance effectiveness as it attempts to address the financial sector-wide risks. These provisions enable MAS the power to ban underserving individuals from working in the financial industry.
Moreover, it will also widen the coverage of anti-money laundering and contradicting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements to individuals and even those residing in Singapore. This is all in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines.
Through this, they will have extensive higher responsibilities on homegrown crypto firms are eager to expand by means of doing business overseas.
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