Singapore's Fintech sector looks poised to grow as rivals around the world struggle with regulatory challenges and political upheaval, claims a new report from ACCA.
The Singapore regulator the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been a keen supporter of Financial Technology and will itself host a Fintech Festival in November 2016.
The ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) report called FinTech - Transforming Finance, finds that while FinTech's impact on finance and banking is proving to be as revolutionary to the sector as the internet has been for other areas of the economy. Regulatory issues in the US and Europe, as well as the potential disruption caused to London by the Brexit vote, positions Singapore at the heart of global growth.
The FinTech Bridge
Singapore's already flourishing Fintech sector may well hugely benefit as other markets face challenges that are providing some push-back to the unbridled growth of Fintech in earlier years.
A co-operation deal was signed earlier this year between the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It has been dubbed «the FinTech bridge» for the benefits it can bring to the Singapore financial sector.
Legislative Bumps in The Road
«While Silicon Valley offers the U.S. banking industry a significant head-start in adopting new technologies, progress has been slowed through legislative and licensing hold-ups. Meanwhile, the potential for U.K. banks to lose their pass-porting rights following the vote to leave the EU poses real uncertainty about the future of FinTech in London,» commented Joseph Alfred, Head of Policy & Technical, ACCA Singapore
«Singapore, on the other hand, is benefitting from a supportive regulatory framework and extremely high digital capacity, which means there is a potential for her to become the regional hub for Asia-Pacificand beyond,» he added.
Accountants Need to Embrace Fintech
Professional accountants are adapting to and seeing opportunities for expansion in Fintech. For example, bookkeeping has been completely automated and cloud accounting platforms are now universal.
Accounting entities in Singapore; particularly those in multi-disciplinary practices, with accountants and lawyers working together, could consider harnessing the momentum of growth in the Fintech sector to expand accountancy services to support this sector.
