MAS and National Bank of Cambodia set up Financial Transparency Corridor to support SMEs

28 July 2023

On 11 July 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) and the National Bank of Cambodia announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a Financial Transparency Corridor (“FTC”) initiative.

The FTC seeks to establish supporting digital infrastructures to facilitate trade and cross-border related financial services between small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) in Singapore and Cambodia. A Singapore financial institution, in assessing financing support for a Singapore SME buyer’s cross-border business with a Cambodian SME seller, will be able to utilise the FTC to acquire trusted information from a Cambodian financial institution on the Cambodian SME seller. Similarly, a Cambodian financial institution supporting a Cambodian seller can obtain trusted information on the Singapore buyer through the FTC.

Through the establishment of enhanced flow of trusted information, SMEs in both countries will be able to leverage broader digital trade networks such as the Business Sans Border Proxtera global network and provide SMEs with greater trade connectivity within ASEAN and other growth regions.

To achieve these goals, the FTC will establish consent-based digital infrastructure to facilitate information exchange between participating financial institutions in Singapore and Cambodia and support financial institutions’ loan assessments for trade financing and an SME’s compliance with anti-money laundering rules to mitigate risks and potential trade disputes. 

Reference materials 

The media release is available on the MAS website www.mas.gov.sg.