UK and Singapore agree landmark Financial Partnership for financial services
An historic new partnership for financial services between the UK and Singapore, which will help to boost jobs and investment in the UK, has been agreed by the Chancellor today (30 June).
The Financial Partnership is a new agreement which will support increased financial services activity between the two countries. The Partnership will facilitate closer cooperation, greater information sharing and opportunities to boost trade and investment.
This is part of the government’s plan to ensure the UK remains a leading global financial centre and marks an important development in the UK’s strategy of pursuing global financial partnerships now that the UK has left the EU.
The Partnership was agreed by Rishi Sunak and Singapore’s Senior Minister and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Speaking after the signing, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:
Our financial services industry helps to grow the economy and create jobs, and today’s agreement is a landmark step in showing the UK – as one of the world’s preeminent financial centres – is both open to the world and committed to maintaining the highest standards of regulation.
Our financial partnership will help increase investment and trade with Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region and boost collaboration on important areas such as fintech and green finance.
The Partnership is backed up by a memorandum of understanding which aims to reduce frictions for firms serving UK and Singapore markets by recognising that each other’s financial services regulatory regimes achieve similar outcomes.
The agreement comes as a result of the sixth UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue which took place today. During the discussions, the UK and Singapore reiterated the importance of green finance and encouraging the development of carbon markets. Both parties also agreed to cooperate on fintech and had a productive conversation on recent technological developments including new payment methods, such as e-wallets, and digital financial services, and agreed to continue sharing information.
An additional memorandum of understanding on cybersecurity was also signed, providing a formal basis for co-operation between the UK and Singapore on the finance sector’s cybersecurity, in order to improve the resilience of both nations’ financial systems.