The Singapore-based intelligence centre is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2017.

Singapore’s financial watchdog has joined forces with a membership organisation in a move to step up its efforts to combat cybercrime.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Centre have collaborated to establish an Asia-Pacific regional intelligence and analysis centre.

The centre aims to encourage the regional financial services sector to share and analyse cybersecurity information. It will monitor cyber threats to member financial institutions, provide analysis and recommend courses of mitigation.

“MAS believes that the establishment of FS-ISAC APAC Intelligence Centre will help to bolster the quality and timeliness of cyber threat intelligence received by financial institutions, strengthen cybersecurity risk management and response, as well as champion cybersecurity programmes and initiatives in the APAC region,” said Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the MAS.

The Singaporean police force's annual crime brief in February showed that a 4 per cent rise in overall crime last year was largely fuelled by an increase in online commercial crimes, while almost all other types of crimes decreased.

“Threats specifically targeting the financial sector span a wide range to include account takeovers, business email compromises, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and destructive malware,” said Bill Nelson, president and chief executive of FS-ISAC. “This initiative enables financial firms both in the region as well as globally to develop an even stronger community defence model and will be an important resource to deliver deeper analysis, mitigate risks and encourage greater collaboration."

FS-ISAC will also increase its efforts to coordinate and host regional events, cybersecurity training and exercises.

Recent cybercrime initiatives by the city-state's government include the establishment of the Cyber Security Agency last year, the announcement of a national cybercrime action plan in July, and the signing of a memorandum of collaboration with a US tech security firm in October.