Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Press Release: Inaugural Singapore FinTech Festival to be held in November 2016

New York City, 12 April 2016…The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today announced the inaugural Singapore FinTech Festival, to be held in Singapore from 14 to 18 November 2016. Organised in partnership with the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), the week-long Festival – the first of its kind in Asia – will bring together a series of distinct, back-to-back FinTech events. The Festival will provide a platform for collaborations, connections and co-creations within the FinTech ecosystem in Singapore and around the region.

The Singapore FinTech Festival will comprise three components:

(a) Global FinTech Hackcelerator – In May 2016, the global FinTech community will be invited to ideate and co-create solutions to specific problems or challenges solicited from the financial industry.  Up to 20 teams will then be selected from across the world to develop market-ready solutions to these problems over the following months. The selected teams will present their completed solutions at the Demo Day during the Festival.

(b) MAS FinTech Awards – The Awards will recognise innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented by FinTech start-ups, financial institutions, and technology companies.

(c) Conferences and Events – The Festival will include the MAS FinTech Conference, ABS-MAS Tech Risk Conference, ABS-MAS Regulation Technology (RegTech) Forum.  The Festival will also feature other community and networking activities like the Innovation Lab Crawl, the SGX Bull Charge Charity Run, etc.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of MAS, launched the FinTech Festival at a Singapore FinTech roadshow in New York City. The event was attended by more than 200 members of the FinTech community, including bank and investment executives, FinTech start-ups, technology experts, and innovation practitioners.  New York is the first city in a series of global outreach initiatives that the MAS is conducting to draw the attention of the global FinTech community to the possibilities for innovation and collaboration that Singapore’s growing FinTech ecosystem offers.

Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, MAS, said in New York, “Technology will fundamentally transform the financial industry. The Singapore FinTech Festival will offer a conducive environment for FinTech players, both within and outside the financial industry, to exchange ideas and forge partnerships that will nurture a thriving FinTech ecosystem in Singapore.”

For more information on the Singapore FinTech Festival, please visit www.FinTechFestival.sg.

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Factsheet

Global FinTech Hackcelerator 
The Global FinTech Hackcelerator will select up to 20 teams globally with solutions to problem statements solicited from the financial services industry. Support will be provided to the teams to develop their solutions, including up to S$550,000 worth of prizes, a network of mentors from MAS and the industry, and software infrastructure to develop market-ready solutions for industry problems that they will showcase at a demo-day during the Festival.

The call for problem statements for the Global FinTech Hackcelerator is now open. The financial services industry and members of the public are welcome to submit problem statements that affect them and are generally applicable to the financial sector, before 2 May 2016.

MAS FinTech Awards
The MAS FinTech Awards will recognise innovative FinTech solutions that have been implemented. The Awards reinforces MAS’ efforts to promote a culture of innovation within and beyond the financial sector and will recognise solutions by FinTech start-ups, financial institutions, and technology companies. MAS will provide up to S$1.15 million worth of prizes, through the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation (FSTI) Scheme, to a maximum of 10 winners. MAS will open the submission of entries for the Awards on 1 June 2016.

FinTech Conference
The two-day FinTech Conference will bring together the FinTech ecosystem, help build relationships, share knowledge, and create business opportunities. The multi-format conference will feature speeches, panel discussions, demos, fireside chats, networking, and exhibitions, and cover topics such as FinTech, payments, lending, crypto-currency, and regulations.

ABS-MAS Tech Risk Conference 
The ABS-MAS Tech Risk Conference is in its 4th edition this year. The conference will focus on technology risk issues with new topics like regulatory sandbox and cyber security. The format will include keynotes, presentations, and panels.

ABS-MAS RegTech Forum
The RegTech Forum will focus on RegTech developments around the world. This will be the first RegTech-focused conference in Asia. The Forum will include keynotes, presentations, and panels.

Innovation Lab Crawl 
Innovation labs across Singapore will open for visits to their labs, where new products and solutions can be tested. It will be a good opportunity to network with start-ups and key innovation executives.