MAS launches Financial Services Industry Transformation Map 2025

29 September 2022

On 15 September 2022, Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minster for Finance, and Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”), launched the Financial Services Industry Transformation Map (“ITM”) 2025, which sets out growth strategies to further develop Singapore as a leading international financial centre in Asia. These strategies will help connect global markets, support Asia’s development, and serve Singapore’s economy.

The ITM comprises the following five key strategies: (1) enhance asset class strengths, (2) digitalise financial infrastructure, (3) catalyse Asia’s net-zero transition, (4) shape the future of financial networks, and (5) foster a skilled and adaptable workforce.

Enhance asset class strengths

MAS will work with the financial industry to deepen capabilities in asset classes in which Singapore plays a key regional or global role, including:

  • Foreign exchange: Broadening and deepening the electronic foreign exchange (“FX”) trading ecosystem by anchoring more FX platforms and liquidity takers;
  • Insurance: Catalysing insurance risk advisory and alternative risk transfer solutions for Asia to address pandemic, climate, and cyber risks, and facilitating the participation of capital markets in risk financing;
  • Wealth management: Becoming Asia’s centre for philanthropy through building impact monitoring solutions, philanthropy advisory competencies, and innovative philanthropy models;
  • Asset management: Enhancing the variable capital company (VCC) regime and other fund structures to cater to broader industry needs;
  • Private capital markets: Developing private credit to complement private equity and venture capital funding; and
  • FinTech: Anchoring promising FinTech start-ups in areas such as Web 3.0, artificial intelligence, and green FinTech.

Digitalise financial infrastructure

MAS will promote the development of digital infrastructure and platforms as set out below.

  • Bond market infrastructure: Improving end-to-end efficiency in primary bond issuances, listing and settlement processes, and strengthening Singapore’s proposition as a bond issuance and listing venue of choice;
  • Funds settlement utility: Developing an industry funds settlement utility to centralise subscription, redemption and record-keeping workflows, and facilitating reconciliation of fund data flows, resulting in reduced settlement time and improved efficiency; and
  • SME trade discovery platform (Business-sans-Borders): Launching a digital platform to connect small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) across growth regions in order to facilitate trade discovery and enable easier access to trade financing for participating SMEs.

Catalyse Asia’s net-zero transition

To catalyse Asia’s transition towards net-zero, MAS is working with the industry to develop innovative solutions to scale up sustainable and transition financing. This will be achieved by:

  • providing greater clarity on transition activities including through the development of an industry-led taxonomy for eight priority sectors;
  • facilitating the decarbonisation of real economy sectors through appropriate financing solutions for corporates;
  • enhancing sustainability disclosures and building data utilities, such as Project GreenPrint, to facilitate companies’ sustainability disclosures and investors’ access to companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) data; and
  • provide grant funding of S$100 million over 2021 to 2025 for capability building, green FinTech, climate risk and reinsurance, and solutions for sustainable and transition finance.

Shape the future of financial networks

MAS aims to enhance payments connectivity and build an innovative and responsible digital asset ecosystem by:

  • expanding cross-border payment linkages with regional economies (e.g. real-time payment linkages);
  • exploring the potential of distributed ledger technology in promising use cases (e.g. cross-border payments, trade finance and capital markets);
  • supporting tokenisation of financial and real economy assets; and
  • enabling digital currency connectivity.

Foster a skilled and adaptable workforce

MAS and the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) will work closely with the financial industry and tripartite partners to foster a strong workforce.

The Financial Sector Development Fund will provide grant funding of S$400 million to the Talent and Leaders in Finance programme over 2021 to 2025 to:

  • build workforce competencies in growth areas and provide training support for finance professionals at different stages of their careers;
  • develop specialist talent in areas such as sustainability and technology; and
  • develop leaders through opportunities to acquire expertise, international exposure and networks to help them succeed in their leadership roles.

Reference materials

The following materials are available on the MAS website www.mas.gov.sg: