The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) have signed a cooperation agreement to foster greater cooperation on fintech (financial technology).

This initiative was launched at the second financial dialogue between the MAS and the State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) yesterday. The annual dialogue aims to deepen bilateral cooperation and exchange views on domestic and international financial market developments and policies.

It was led by Ambassador Rene Weber, head of the markets division in SIF, with representatives from Finma and the Swiss National Bank, and Ms Jacqueline Loh, deputy managing director of MAS, heading the Singapore delegation.

The dialogue touched on current trends in the global economic and financial markets, international financial regulatory reforms, and financial industry developments.

The cooperation agreement between MAS and Finma provides a framework for innovative fintech companies in Singapore and Switzerland to expedite initial discussions on introducing new fintech solutions in each other's market and understand regulatory requirements. This is expected to help to reduce regulatory uncertainty and the time-to-market for these new fintech solutions.

The agreement will help to create opportunities for fintech businesses from Singapore and Switzerland to expand into each other's markets. Finma and MAS have also committed to share information about emerging fintech trends and regulatory issues pertaining to innovation.