MAS Signs FinTech Partnership Agreement with Dubai Regulator
- The two regulatory bodies will share information and pursue joint research projects.

Singapore’s efforts at becoming a hub for the financial technology (fintech) industry are showing no signs of slowing down. This Wednesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, announced that it had formed a partnership with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
The DFSA is another regulator based in what many believe to be kitschiest country in the world, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Despite what its name may imply, the body only regulates financial activities within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial free-zone located in the heart of the UAE’s largest city.
The agreement between the two regulatory bodies will have a range of outcomes. At the heart of the deal lies a referral agreement. This referral agreement will enable the two regulatory bodies to refer fintech companies to one another. That should enable those firms to more easily access the two jurisdictions that the regulators govern.
MAS - building the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term
Alongside this will be an information sharing process. What benefits the two regulators will really accrue from this side of the deal is less clear. The statement issued by the MAS noted, ambiguously, that the deal will “facilitate the sharing of information on financial sector innovation in [the regulators’] respective markets.”
Using the word fintech three times in one sentence, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer at MAS, commented on the agreement: “The rising FinTech boom in the Middle East creates new opportunities for the region and beyond. Through this fintech cooperation with DFSA, we look forward to closer interactions between our markets, and for fintech firms in Singapore to capture these new opportunities and grow the fintech landscape.”
Singapore’s efforts at becoming a hub for the financial technology (fintech) industry are showing no signs of slowing down. This Wednesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, announced that it had formed a partnership with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
The DFSA is another regulator based in what many believe to be kitschiest country in the world, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Despite what its name may imply, the body only regulates financial activities within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial free-zone located in the heart of the UAE’s largest city.
The agreement between the two regulatory bodies will have a range of outcomes. At the heart of the deal lies a referral agreement. This referral agreement will enable the two regulatory bodies to refer fintech companies to one another. That should enable those firms to more easily access the two jurisdictions that the regulators govern.
MAS - building the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamper with. The Evolution of BlockchainBlockchain was originally invented by an individual or group of people under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. The purpose of blockchain was originally to serve as the public transaction ledger of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency.In particular, bundles of transaction data, called “blocks”, are added to the ledger in a chronological fashion, forming a “chain.” These blocks include things like date, time, dollar amount, and (in some cases) the public addresses of the sender and the receiver.The computers responsible for upholding a blockchain network are called “nodes.” These nodes carry out the duties necessary to confirm the transactions and add them to the ledger. In exchange for their work, the nodes receive rewards in the form of crypto tokens.By storing data via a peer-to-peer network (P2P), blockchain controls for a wide range of risks that are traditionally inherent with data being held centrally.Of note, P2P blockchain networks lack centralized points of vulnerability. Consequently, hackers cannot exploit these networks via normalized means nor does the network possess a central failure point.In order to hack or alter a blockchain’s ledger, more than half of the nodes must be compromised. Looking ahead, blockchain technology is an area of extensive research across multiple industries, including financial services and payments, among others. Read this Term
Alongside this will be an information sharing process. What benefits the two regulators will really accrue from this side of the deal is less clear. The statement issued by the MAS noted, ambiguously, that the deal will “facilitate the sharing of information on financial sector innovation in [the regulators’] respective markets.”
Using the word fintech three times in one sentence, Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer at MAS, commented on the agreement: “The rising FinTech boom in the Middle East creates new opportunities for the region and beyond. Through this fintech cooperation with DFSA, we look forward to closer interactions between our markets, and for fintech firms in Singapore to capture these new opportunities and grow the fintech landscape.”