Late last week, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a cooperation agreement on FinTech innovation. The agreement is principally focused on information sharing on FinTech trends and developments and on each regulator’s FinTech sandboxes.
The agreement could also, however, help FinTech companies move more easily between the U.S. and Singaporean markets. In particular, the agreement establishes a referral mechanism where each regulator can refer to the other regulator innovators that seek to operate in, or have questions about, the other regulator’s jurisdiction. The referral process is non-binding and does not obligate either regulator to accept the licenses or authorizations of the other regulator. Nevertheless it may, in practice, help facilitate easier entry of U.S. innovators into Singapore markets, and vice-versa.
CFTC’s agreement with MAS is its second FinTech cooperation agreement with a non-US authority (the first being its agreement with the FCA), and it reflects both agencies’ ongoing efforts to engage their foreign counterparts in productive dialogue.