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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said today that Wirecard entities in Singapore have complied with MAS's directions to hold customers' funds in segregated accounts with banks in Singapore. MAS is closely monitoring the operations of Wirecard. Wirecard's primary business activities in Singapore are to process payments for merchants and help companies issue pre-paid cards. Wirecard has informed MAS that it is assessing its ability to continue providing its services in Singapore in light of the filing for insolvency in Germany by its parent company Wirecard AG.

Circle's Singapore affiliate received its Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Major Payment Institution (MPI) license for digital payment token services in Singapore, after having obtained in-principle approval last November. It allows Circle Singapore to offer digital payment token services, cross-border money transfer services and domestic money transfer services in the city-state. Circle is the issuer of USDC stablecoin.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has assessed that the case for a retail CBDC in Singapore is not compelling. It has found that reasons typically offered for issuing retail CBDCs are not very relevant to MAS and Singapore at this juncture. "Some of the reasons usually offered are that CBDCs can ensure financial inclusion or enable cheaper and faster payments. Financial inclusion is not a significant problem in Singapore. Electronic payments in Singapore have also become pervasive, seamless, and efficient...  In short, [the MAS is] using improvements in payment technology and competition to achieve [its] objectives of cheap and fast payments for all, using existing forms of central bank-backed money... [However] the case for a CBDC could strengthen if foreign digital currencies become more widely used locally... [so the MAS] continues to build up its technological and institutional capabilities in the CBDC space...

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is embarking on Project Orchid - to build the technology infrastructure and technical competencies necessary to issue a digital Singapore dollar should Singapore decide to do so in future. Managing Director Ravi Menon, said that while retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) has its upside, the case for it in Singapore is not urgent. However, he sees much promise in wholesale CBDC.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published the features of a new regulatory framework that seeks to ensure a high degree of value stability for stablecoins regulated in Singapore. It will apply to single-currency stablecoins (SCS) pegged to the Singaporean dollar or any G10 currency. SCS reserve assets will be subject to requirements relating to their composition, valuation, custody and audit, to give a high degree of assurance of value stability. SCSs must hold minimum base capital of 1 million Singapore dollars ($740,000) and provide redemption within no more than five business days of a request. https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2023/mas-finalises-stablecoin-regulatory-framework

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a report detailing potential uses of a purpose-bound digital Singapore dollar (SGD) and the supporting infrastructure required, marking the successful completion of Phase 1 of Project Orchid. While MAS has assessed that the case for a retail CBDC in Singapore is not compelling for now, Project Orchid aims to build the technical capabilities and competencies necessary for MAS to issue a retail CBDC, should the need arise. Phase 1 explored the concept of purpose-bound digital SGD that enables senders to specify conditions, such as validity period and types of shops, when making transfers in digital SGD. Some of its use cases will be tested through trials with the public and private sector in 2022 and 2023. The next phase of Project Orchid will look at what the best ledger technology is and how this can be integrated with the existing infrastructure. https://www.mas.gov.sg/publications/monographs-or-information-paper/2022/project-orchid-whitepaper

Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the cross-border quick response (QR) payment linkage between Indonesia and Singapore. This linkage enables customers of participating financial institutions to make seamless cross-border retail payments using their existing mobile banking applications to scan QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard) or NETS QR codes displayed by merchants in Indonesia and Singapore respectively.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and People's Bank of China (PBOC) have agreed to allow tourists from either country to use the pilot digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC). Visitors to China have likely been able to use the digital yuan for some time, so the innovation here is that Chinese visitors will be able to use it in Singapore. This follows increasing integration between the digital yuan and Hong Kong, enabling visitors in both directions to use the CBDC, but given China's control over Hong Kong, that's rather different. https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2023/singapore-and-china-enhance-digital-finance-and-capital-markets-cooperation

"The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Banque de France today announced the successful completion of a wholesale cross-border payment and settlement experiment using multiple central bank digital currencies (mCBDCs). The experiment between the two central banks, supported by J.P. Morgan's Onyx, simulated cross-border transactions and cross-currency transactions involving a Singapore dollar CBDC and a euro CBDC, and was conducted using a permissioned, privacy-enabled blockchain based on Quorum technology." For more detail see: https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/media-releases/2021/monetary-authority-of-singapore-and-banque-de-france-break-new-ground-in-cbdc-experimentation

Xfers launched a Singapore dollar-pegged XSGD stablecoin. Xfers has a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Major Payment Institution (MPI) e-money issuance license. All XSGD tokens are backed 1:1 with Singapore Dollars held in Xfers' reserve held in segregated accounts with a fully regulated MAS-approved bank. Xfers claims that XSGD is the world's first stablecoin to be be compliant with the Financial Action Task Force's travel rule, so financial institutions can use it for cross-border money transfers as well.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore FinTech Association, AMTD Group and AMTD Foundation announced the launch of a S$6 million MAS-SFA-AMTD FinTech Solidarity Grant to support Singapore-based FinTech firms amid the challenging business climate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Binance announced that users in Singapore will no longer have access to fiat deposits, crypto spot trading, liquid swap and crypto purchases via fiat channels on its main Binance.com website. The restrictions are being imposed for regulatory compliance reasons. However, Binance also operates a separate local platform, which has applied for a licence in Singapore. Like other applicants, it is allowed to operate in Singapore under an exemption while the MAS processes applications.

Binance must stop offering services regulated in Singapore after a potential breach of local payment rules, adding to a mounting list of jurisdictions scrutinizing the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The Monetary Authority of Singapore reportedly said Binance may be in breach of the Payments Services Act for providing payment services to, and soliciting business from Singapore residents without an appropriate license.

Binance.com is removing itself from app stores in Singapore, as well as ending support for trading pairs and payment options in the Singapore dollar (SGD). The move came after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) placed Binance.com on the Investor Alert List, which contains the names of unregulated financial services entities illegally offering services in the city-state. The local unit (Binance.sg) has already applied for a MAS license and is currently operating in the country under a granted exemption for a specified period.

Lawmakers in Singapore approved the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022, which further expanded the jurisdiction of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to virtual asset service providers (VASPs) doing business outside Singapore. Under the previous regulatory regime, the MAS only had authority over VASPs based in the country and offered their services locally. This led to some regulatory loopholes in which a firm could claim to be regulated by the MAS, but not be directly supervised by the regulator.

A new trading platform for security tokens has launched with backing from Singapore Exchange. The 1X platform went live with its first listing of an ethereum token, purchasable with Singapore dollars. The token represents about 7% of the shares of Singapore fund manager Aggregate Asset Management.

Bank Indonesia (BI) has reportedly announced the start of a trial of cross-border QR code payments with Singapore. The project, first announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in August 2022, is aimed at allowing users to make instant, secure payments by scanning the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) or NETS QR codes displayed by merchants. BI deputy governor Filianingsih Hendarta reportedly has said that the project is halfway to completion with three-quarters of the beta testing completed.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) unveiled three initiatives to ensure the safe and innovative use of digital money in Singapore. First there is the Orchid Blueprint that sets out the technology and infrastructure building blocks that would be required to facilitate digital money transactions in the future. Second there are four new Project Orchid digital money trials, including testing the broad applicability of purpose bound money, which enables money to be directed towards a specific purpose, without requiring money itself to be programmed. Third "live" wholesale CBDC will be tested, with the first pilot focusing on settling retail payments between commercial banks, and future pilots possibly focusing on settling cross-border securities trades. The Orchid Blueprint will support single-currency stablecoins that will be regulated for their value stability under MAS' proposed regulatory framework for stablecoin activities. The Blueprint will also support tokenized bank deposits issued by MAS-regulated banks.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is launching a proof of concept (POC) for an interoperable Singapore Quick Response Code Scheme (SGQR+). The POC, to be conducted in November 2023, will explore the feasibility of enabling merchants in Singapore to accept QR payments from a variety of payment schemes through a single financial institution.

Union Bank of the Philippines recently became the first Philippine bank to successfully pilot blockchain-based remittance from Singapore to the Philippines. This was done in partnership with OCBC Bank, Singapore, using the Adhara liquidity management and international payments platform.