Singapore wants to bolster its status as a wealth management and foreign exchange centre as part of plans to create more financial-sector jobs and mitigate the effect of rapid changes in technology.
In a plan unveiled Monday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it aims to create 4,000 net new jobs in financial services and financial technology, and achieve real growth in the sector of 4.3% annually, faster than the overall economy.
“With technology transforming the way financial services are produced, delivered, and consumed, it is critical that Singapore’s financial sector also transforms, to stay relevant and competitive,” the MAS said in a statement.
Banks around the world are cutting jobs as the industry is transformed by digital technology, and the application of artificial intelligence and robotics. Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc, has predicted some 30% of banking jobs will disappear over the next five years.
Wealth Hub
The MAS listed three elements to its so-called industry transformation map for financial services. It said Singapore aims to be:
- A leading international wealth management hub. The MAS said it’s working with the industry to develop Singapore as a “centre of excellence for wealth management technology and innovation”.
- An Asian hub for asset management, and a place where more funds are domiciled
- A global foreign exchange price discovery and liquidity centre in the Asian time zone. Singapore is currently the third largest foreign-exchange centre globally. The MAS said it will encourage key participants to “anchor their matching and pricing engines here, to enable market participants to benefit from better liquidity and greater efficiency in executing FX transactions.”
A growth rate of 4.3% for the financial sector compares with the planned overall economic growth of 2% to 3% included in a set of national strategies unveiled in February. The financial sector accounts for about 13% of Singapore’s gross domestic product.
Assets under management grew 7% last year to S$2.7 trillion ($1.9 trillion), according to MAS data published in September.
The MAS is also working with the industry to:
- Build private market funding platforms to attract a wider network of investors
- Become a full service Asian infrastructure financing hub
- Become a leading centre for Asian fixed income
- Attract global capital for Asian insurance and risk transfer
- Create common utilities including for electronic payments, digital ID and electronic know-your-client checks.