Insider Brief
- The UK and Singapore held their 11th Financial Dialogue in Singapore, discussing cooperation in digital finance, AI, quantum technologies, capital markets and sustainable finance.
- On quantum technologies, both countries reviewed quantum security approaches, guidance for financial institutions transitioning to post-quantum cryptography, and lessons from Singapore’s Quantum Key Distribution sandbox with industry partners.
- The two countries also discussed financial market innovation and regulatory cooperation ahead of the UK’s G20 Presidency and Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027.
PRESS RELEASE — The United Kingdom (UK) and Singapore held the 11th UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue in Singapore today. Reaffirming their strong and longstanding partnership, the discussions focused on advancing cooperation in digital finance and innovation, capital markets, sustainable finance, and regional and multilateral initiatives.
Digital Finance and Innovation
The UK and Singapore exchanged views on digital finance and innovation, including taking stock of and advancing their cooperation in digital assets, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum technologies.
Discussions on digital assets and financial market infrastructure covered initiatives from both jurisdictions aimed at supporting cross-border use cases for tokenisation and wholesale digital markets. These included the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s Project Guardian[footnote 1] and BLOOM,[footnote 2] Global Layer One (GL1),[footnote 3] alongside the UK’s Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy,[footnote 4] the work of the UK Wholesale Digital Markets Champion,[footnote 5] the Digital Securities Sandbox,[footnote 6] and ongoing work of the Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on tokenisation and wholesale digital markets. Developments in crypto-assets and stablecoins and the implications of digital money for wholesale markets and institutional settlements were also discussed.
The Dialogue affirmed the importance of safe and responsible AI adoption in financial services. Initiatives discussed included the UK’s AI Adoption Plan for Financial Services[footnote 7] and related measures under its Financial Services Strategy,[footnote 8] as well as Singapore’s Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime (SAFR)[footnote 9] initiative, which sets out a framework on how AI agents may carry out financial tasks safely, securely, and reliably.
MAS and the FCA also reviewed progress under the UK-Singapore AI in Finance Partnership, including PathFin.ai,[footnote 10] Spotlight, the FCA Supercharged Sandbox, the AI Observatory,[footnote 11] and the ongoing work on an AI taxonomy. Discussions covered practical approaches and good practices for responsible AI adoption, and possible use cases for future cooperation.
The exchange on quantum technologies covered the UK’s and Singapore’s approach to quantum security and supervisory expectations for financial institutions transitioning to quantum-safe technologies, including the UK National Cyber Security Centre’s post-quantum cryptography migration guidance, as well as lessons learnt from MAS’ Quantum Key Distribution[footnote 12] sandbox with industry partners.
Capital Markets
The UK and Singapore exchanged views on initiatives to strengthen their respective capital markets and support enterprise growth. HM Treasury (HMT) shared progress on the UK’s programme of capital markets reforms, and on measures to broaden access to private capital. MAS provided an update on the suite of measures introduced by the Equities Market Review Group[footnote 13] to strengthen Singapore’s equities market competitiveness.
The UK and Singapore also discussed efforts to strengthen their respective growth capital ecosystems. HMT provided an update on the British Business Bank’s venture and growth capital initiatives, while MAS shared about Singapore’s Growth Capital Workgroup, and its efforts to strengthen financing across deal origination, capital raising, and capital recycling.
Sustainable Finance
The UK and Singapore discussed their respective approaches to fostering sustainable finance and initiatives on adaptation and resilience. The UK shared updates on the Transition Finance Pilot, the Transition Finance Council Guidelines, and the Green Finance Institute’s Transition Finance Lab.
The UK also shared lessons learnt in supporting climate adaptation through insurance markets, the FCA’s Climate Scenarios Sandbox, and the Climate Financial Risk Forum, which is jointly convened by the FCA and the BOE. Singapore outlined ongoing revisions to the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy 2.0 as well as Singapore’s experience with the Financial Sector Carbon Market Grant.
Regional and Multilateral Initiatives
In 2027, the UK will assume the G20 Presidency, and Singapore will hold the ASEAN Chairmanship. Both countries discussed their respective priorities for these roles, as well as opportunities for collaboration. Both parties also exchanged views on the future work programme of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which is chaired by the Governor of the Bank of England.
The Financial Dialogue will be followed by an industry-led UK-Singapore business roundtable on 21 October. The roundtable, with participation from industry representatives from both countries, will cover opportunities for international cooperation, particularly in the context of the UK’s G20 Presidency and Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2027.
Officials from HMT and MAS participated in the Dialogue alongside representatives from the BoE, the FCA, the High Commission of the Republic of Singapore in London, and the British High Commission in Singapore. The Dialogue was preceded by a bilateral discussion between the Director General (Financial Services) of HMT, Ms Gwyneth Nurse, and the Deputy Managing Director (Markets and Development) of MAS, Mr Leong Sing Chiong, who re-affirmed the value of the close and wide-ranging engagements between the UK and Singapore.
The 12th UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue will be hosted by the UK in 2027.