• Supported IBF as the one-stop industry platform for skills, careers and jobs

In April 2019, IBF and MAS launched a study that sets out the impact of data analytics and automation on job tasks and skills needs of 121 job roles in Singapore’s financial services sector over the next 3 to 5 years. In partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore, IBF also launched the Skills Framework for Financial Services in September 2019 which sets out the progression pathways and skills required for a career in the industry.

We have since observed an increase in take-up of training courses, with around 22,000 trainees supported by FSDF in the past year under the Financial Training Scheme and IBF Standards Training Scheme. We expect this strong take-up rate to continue.

• Building a strong pipeline of Singaporean financial services sector leaders

To develop a strong pool of Singaporean leaders in the financial services sector, FSDF, through the Finance Associate Management Scheme and International Postings Programme, provided over 250 Singaporeans in the past year with opportunities for cross-functional and overseas exposure. FSDF also supported the building of the talent pipeline in specialist areas such as quantitative finance and data science, through 20 scholarships awarded under the Financial Specialist Scholarship.

To build a pipeline of Singaporean finance leaders for regional and global roles, FSDF supported 42 promising finance professionals under the Asian Financial Leaders Scheme, to go through curated programmes that provided opportunities to engage regional policymakers and corporate leaders, and to develop deeper insights into Asian markets.

Significant projects supported by the FSTI last year include:

• The set-up of four regional cybersecurity hubs under the Cybersecurity Capability Grant;
• The fifth phase of Project Ubin, which successfully developed a blockchain-based prototype enabling multi-currency payments to be carried out on the same network;
• A prototype for an industry-wide FinTech Research Platform, to connect promising FinTechs with investors and financial institutions; and
• Sponsorship of 31 FinTech awards at the Singapore FinTech Festival X SWITCH 2019, to promote and support the use of innovative FinTech solutions.

• Debt capital market: MAS supported 19 new bond and insurance-linked securities issuances through schemes such as the Global-Asia Bond Grant SchemeIn January 2020, MAS announced the expansion of the Asian Bond Grant Scheme to cover all issuers with an Asian nexus, and renamed the scheme as the Global-Asia Bond Grant scheme., Sustainability Bond Grant Scheme, SGD Credit Rating Grant Scheme, and the Insurance-Linked Securities Grant Scheme.
• Equity capital market: The Grant for Equity Market Singapore was launched in February 2019 to enhance Singapore’s role as an enterprise financing hub. Since then, the scheme has supported nine listings on SGX and eleven research houses in enhancing research capabilities and developing research talent.
• Foreign exchange market: The Foreign Exchange E-Trading Ecosystem Grant Scheme supported four liquidity providers to set up pricing and trading engines during the year. The scheme aims to build an FX e-trading ecosystem in Singapore through anchoring primary inter-dealer platforms and multi-dealer platforms to set up matching engines, as well as liquidity providers and liquidity takers to generate flows.
• Fund Domiciliation: MAS launched the Variable Capital Companies (VCC) Grant Scheme in January 2020 to encourage early adoption by fund managers to incorporate or re-domicile their investment funds in Singapore. A critical mass of early adopters will help entrench Singapore’s status as a global fund management hub. As of 31 March 2020, 36 VCCs have been registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.