Monetary Authority of Singapore and UAE Sign Digital Trade Financing Pact

Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) on Thursday (Nov. 11) announced the completion of a cross-border digital trade financing pilot.

The collaboration also includes commercial partners DBS Bank, Emirates NBD and Standard Chartered, according to the joint announcement.

The cross-border digital trade financing pilot used IMDA’s TradeTrust framework to transfer electronic records between the jurisdictions that have adopted the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law’s (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), the announcement says, bringing the legal recognition of digital documents, including electronic bills of lading (eBLs), under one roof.

“The pilot demonstrates how the TradeTrust Digital Utility can facilitate the digitalization of trade finance processes,” said Lew Chuen Hong, chief executive of IMDA, in the joint announcement. “We have complemented this by providing legal certainty to electronic transferable records such as eBLs through the MLETR.”

“Singapore is keen to accelerate the digitalization of trade finance to promote greater trust, efficiency and cost savings in the financing of global and regional trade,” said Leong Sing Chiong, deputy managing director of markets and development at MAS, in the joint announcement. “With this pilot, we hope to see broader adoption of digital trade finance in Singapore and the region.”

The partnership is also part of the global trade movement by the G7 economies to adopt electronic transferable records for international trade.

“Trade finance is a key enabler for the continuing development and growth of the global economy,” said Emmanuel Givanakis, CEO of the FSRA, in the joint announcement. “As an international financial center, ADGM is delighted to work with other MLETR-compliant jurisdictions to provide robust and efficient regulatory and technical infrastructure that helps financial institutions better serve their corporate customers’ needs.

“We look forward to the further development and operationalization of digital trade finance in the ADGM and globally,” he said.

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