The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it would work with partners in Hong Kong and Canada in developing the use of blockchain technology. The MAS will set up a cross-border platform with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to boost trade finance using distributed ledger technology. This will enable the seamless transfer of digital documents and data across the Singapore-Hong Kong trade corridor. This is expected to go live in early 2019. Similarly, the MAS also plans to collaborate with the Bank of Canada to link both of their payments system that tests the use of distributed ledger technology for cross-border payments. MAS MD Ravi Menon said blockchain technology offers good promise to make trade finance safer and more efficient. He said today trade finance is largely paper-based. This is not only inefficient, but increases risks such as fraud and duplicate invoicing, he added.
