MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore)

The Monetary Authority of Singapore serves as Singapore's central bank, integrated financial regulator, and financial development authority, positioning the city-state as a leading global hub for digital asset innovation balanced with rigorous regulatory oversight.

MAS regulates digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act 2019, requiring Virtual Asset Service Providers to obtain licenses and comply with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, and technology risk management requirements. The authority has granted Major Payment Institution licenses to crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Independent Reserve, while maintaining a selective licensing approach that prioritizes institutional-grade operations.

MAS pioneered the FEAT Principles (Fairness, Ethics, Accountability, Transparency) as a framework for responsible AI use in financial services, directly addressing risks from autonomous AI agents in payment systems. The authority actively experiments with tokenization through Project Guardian, collaborating with financial institutions on wholesale central bank digital currency applications and tokenized asset settlements. MAS balances innovation support through regulatory sandboxes with firm enforcement against unlicensed operators and consumer protection violations.