HKMA, Dubai's Financial Centre Ink Fintech Agreement As Pacts Flourish

Tom Burroughes

11 December 2017

The of Dubai International Financial Centre have inked co-operation agreement over fintech, continuing a run of such cross-border pacts around the world.

The agreement was signed last week by Shu-pui Li, executive director (financial infrastructure) of the HKMA, and Ian Johnston, chief executive of the DFSA, in Hong Kong.

The authorities will collaborate on referrals of innovative businesses, information sharing and joint innovation projects.

The deal echoes that between Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission and the DFSA in August this year. In that pact, both regulators said they aimed at an "innovations-friendly ecosystem" in their markets. They promised to share information about developments and innovations and want to refer innovative firms to each other’s markets and to provide them with regulatory guidance.

A number of Asian jurisdictions have signed such agreements to push ahead fintech development, hoping to win business in burgeoning areas around artificial intelligence, robo-advisory, machine learning, Big Data, and robotics. For example, in July this year, Singapore’s central bank and regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, forged an alliance with the Bank of Thailand to foster the growth of both nation’s financial technology sectors. In late June, the MAS signed a similar deal with its counterpart in Denmark.