Singapore regulator injects $125m to support finance firms

It will support workforce training, operations and access to digital tools.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a $125m support package to boost the growth of financial institutions (FIs) and fintech firms amidst the economic slump, effective today.

Funded by the Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF), the relief will support workforce training and manpower costs, digitalisation and operational resilience, and the enhancing of fintechs’ access to digital tools.

The regulator will allocate $90m in boosting workforce training, which will cover a new Training Allowance Grant (TAG) to spur firms to upskill their employees during the downtime, and is also available to citizens and permanent residents working outside the financial sector.

It will grant allowances for courses accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) at $10/training hour for self-sponsored individuals and $15/training hour for those sponsored by financial firms.

MAS and IBF will also raise course subsidies for IBF-related courses to 90%, and double the salary support for FIs to hire citizens who are fresh graduates or workers from other sectors and place them into talent development programmes under the Finance Associate Management Scheme (FAMS).

The remaining $35m will be allotted to a new Digital Acceleration Grant (DAG) to bolster the digitalisation of smaller FIs and fintechs through two tracks: the Institution Project Track which supports 80% of qualifying expenses for digital solutions up to a cap of $120,000 per entity, and the Industry Pilot Track which will fund 80% of qualifying expenses of any partnership of at least three firms with a cap of $100,000 per participant.

Moreover, MAS will provide all Singapore-based fintechs with a six-month free access to API Exchange (APIX) and will partner with the Singapore Fintech Association to build a new digital self-assessment framework for Outsourcing and TRM Guidelines for APIX.