The UK and Singapore reviewed their cooperation in digital assets, AI and quantum technologies during the 11th UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue, held in Singapore on 20 October.
The discussions also covered capital markets, sustainable finance and opportunities for international cooperation in 2027.
Officials from MAS and HM Treasury (HMT) attended the meeting alongside representatives from the Bank of England (BoE), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and both countries’ diplomatic missions.
Digital assets and tokenisation initiatives
Both countries discussed initiatives supporting cross-border tokenisation and the development of wholesale digital financial markets.
Singapore highlighted MAS‘ Project Guardian, BLOOM and Global Layer One (GL1), while the UK shared updates on its Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, Wholesale Digital Markets Champion and Digital Securities Sandbox.
Officials also reviewed ongoing tokenisation work by the BoE and FCA, alongside developments in crypto-assets and stablecoins.
Discussions covered the implications of digital money for wholesale financial markets and institutional settlements.
Responsible AI adoption in financial services
AI was another area of focus, with both countries exchanging views on measures to support its safe and responsible use in financial services.
The UK outlined its AI Adoption Plan for Financial Services and related initiatives under its Financial Services Strategy.
Singapore discussed its Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime (SAFR) initiative, which provides a framework for AI agents to carry out financial tasks safely and reliably.
MAS introduced SAFR with industry partners in July 2026. The framework sets out governance checkpoints to verify, authorise and record proposed actions by AI agents before execution.
MAS and the FCA also reviewed progress under the UK-Singapore AI in Finance Partnership, including PathFin.ai, Spotlight, the FCA Supercharged Sandbox and the AI Observatory.
Both regulators discussed ongoing work on an AI taxonomy, approaches to responsible AI adoption and potential areas for future cooperation.
The partnership, announced during the Singapore Fintech Festival in November 2025, aims to promote responsible AI innovation and help financial institutions and technology providers scale solutions across both markets.
Preparing financial institutions for quantum security
The dialogue also addressed quantum security and how financial institutions can prepare for the transition to quantum-safe technologies.
UK officials shared the National Cyber Security Centre’s guidance on migrating to post-quantum cryptography, which aims to protect encrypted information against threats from quantum computers.
MAS discussed lessons from its Quantum Key Distribution sandbox with industry partners, which explored the use of quantum technology to secure the exchange of encryption keys.
Both sides also exchanged views on supervisory expectations for financial institutions adopting quantum-safe technologies.
Capital markets and sustainable finance
Beyond digital finance, discussions covered efforts to strengthen capital markets and improve access to growth financing.
HMT shared updates on the UK’s capital markets reforms and British Business Bank initiatives supporting venture and growth capital.
MAS outlined measures introduced by Singapore’s Equities Market Review Group to strengthen the competitiveness of its equities market.
The authority also discussed the Growth Capital Workgroup’s efforts to improve financing across deal origination, capital raising and capital recycling.
On sustainable finance, the UK provided updates on its Transition Finance Pilot, Transition Finance Council Guidelines and the Green Finance Institute’s Transition Finance Lab.
Discussions also covered climate adaptation through insurance markets, the FCA’s Climate Scenarios Sandbox and the Climate Financial Risk Forum.
Singapore shared progress on revisions to the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy 2.0 and its experience with the Financial Sector Carbon Market Grant.
The UK will host the 12th UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue in 2027.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by leoaltman via Magnific
