Singapore to relax VC regulations for fintech investment
(10 November 2016 – Singapore) Singapore's central bank has announced that it will seek to ease ease regulation for venture capital (VC) investors from 2017 in a bid to increase activity in the financial technology (fintech) industry, deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.
According to the Treasury Fintech Index, 67 percent of treasurers in Singapore forecast an increase in their FinTech outlay for 2017, trailing only their UK peers (69 percent). Additionally, more than one in four Singaporean corporates say they have invested in fintechs while 37.6 percent they are actively exploring fintech investment opportunities.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is holding a Fintech festival in the coming week, inviting regulators, investors and fintech firms from across the world.
"MAS is looking to significantly simplify and shorten the authorisation process for new VC managers," Tharman said at the launch of Singapore's first innovation space designated for Fintech.
"Further, to the extent that there are contractual safeguards to provide sufficient protection to a VC's sophisticated investor base, MAS is also looking to exempt VC managers from business conduct requirements that are currently applied to asset managers in general."
The MAS aims to introduce the changes by July 2017.
More than 300 fintech startups have set up shop in Singapore, while over 20 global banks and insurance companies have set up innovation labs and research centres.
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