The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed an agreement in a bid to help innovative businesses in Singapore and Australia in their foray to the respective markets.

The Innovation Functions Co-operation agreement will enable innovative FinTech companies in the two countries to establish initial discussions in each other’s market faster and receive advice on required licences, thereby helping to reduce regulatory uncertainty and time to market.

Speaking about the recent deal, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, highlighted Singapore’s vibrant FinTech ecosystem that is reinforced by sound infrastructure and a growing talent pool.

“This agreement between the MAS and ASIC would create opportunities for FinTech businesses from Singapore and Australia to grow and expand into each other’s markets”, Mohanty said. “MAS is also looking forward to partner ASIC in joint innovation projects on the application of key technologies such as digital and mobile payments, blockchain and distributed ledgers, big data, and Application Programming Interfaces (API).”

In order to qualify for the support offered by the agreement, businesses will need to meet the eligibility criteria of their home regulator. Once referred by the regulator, and ahead of applying for licence to operate in the new market, a dedicated team or contact person will help them to understand the regulatory framework in the market they wish to join, and how it applies to them.

The two financial regulators have also committed to exploring joint innovation projects together and share information on emerging market trends and their impact on regulation. 

ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft pointed out that since the launch of Innovation Hub last year, there has been a surge in requests by fintech startups seeking assistance about how to navigate the regulatory requirements.

“In particular we have dealt with robo or digital advice, crowd sourced equity funding, payments, marketplace lending and blockchain business models. It is very exciting to observe and clearly some business ideas will want to scale up internationally”, Medcraft added. “We believe this agreement with the MAS will help break down barriers to entry both here and in Singapore.”

Earlier in March, ASIC entered into a similar fintech agreement with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).