Can Singapore banks stand up to the cryptocurrencies challenge?

SINGAPORE (Nov 27): Changes are afoot in the banking industry amid a proliferation of cryptocurrencies. However, UOB Kay Hian believes the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is unlikely to pursue policies that will undermine the strong positioning of Singapore banks.

“The MAS recognises that banks need to be profitable to support growth in the real economy while unprofitable banks are a potential source of financial instability,” says UOB analyst Jonathan Koh in a Monday report.

This comes as the central bank is studying the implication of a tokenised form of the Singapore dollar on distributed ledger technology for interbank payments.

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