Singaporean regulators are working with traditional banks to develop uniform standards for screening potential clients in the crypto industry. This collaboration has been going on for the past six months.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been working with the police to help local banks optimize account opening procedures for digital asset service providers, Bloomberg reported on April 6. After half a year of cooperation, its results and conclusions in risk management and due diligence will be released in the next two months. Potential guidelines will also cover topics such as stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and transferable game or streaming credits. At the same time, banks will reserve the right to make decisions based on the guidelines and their own risk assessment.
As a MAS representative told reporters, there are currently no rules prohibiting banks from working with digital asset providers: "It is at the bank's sole discretion whether to initiate or continue a banking relationship with a client, balancing commercial considerations with business risk tolerance."
Singapore has become a hub for crypto businesses thanks to its flexible tax policies, access to diverse technical talent and convenient location, enabling companies to operate smoothly within the Asian time zone. However, at the end of 2022, MAS proposes to prohibit service providers of digital payment tokens from providing “any credit facilities” to consumers, including fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. At the time, local crypto lobbyists expressed opposition to the proposal. Currently, local law enforcement officials are investigating the failed Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem led to a major implosion in the digital asset market, with losses of nearly $40 billion.
