The UK’s financial regulator has announced an AI partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), establishing a new presence in the country.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that joint testing of AI solutions, exchange of regulatory insights, and collaborative events to spotlight best-in-class approaches will form a key part of the partnership.

The financial watchdog says that the move will support safe and responsible AI innovation, enabling firms in the UK and Singapore to scale and operate across both markets more effectively.

As part of the plans, for the first time the FCA will establish a presence in Singapore with the appointment of a Financial Services Attaché based at the British High Commission.

The move forms part of wider plans to establish a presence in other priority markets next year.

It comes after the organisation announced in April the appointment of an Asia-Pacific director, Camille Blackburn, who is based in Australia, to help establish a presence in the region.

Tash Miah was also appointed at the British Embassy in Washington DC to advance UK-US financial services policy and regulatory cooperation.

“Through our partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, we'll be championing safe and responsible AI innovation across UK and Singapore markets,” said Jessica Rusu, chief data, information and intelligence officer, FCA. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it enables firms in both countries to grow through collaboration, gauge new cross-border opportunities, and shape the future of responsible AI innovation in finance.”

Earlier this week, the FCA's head of department, cross-cutting policy & strategy at the regulator said that it the organisation is struggling with some of the same challenges in rolling out AI as British financial institutions.

Speaking on a panel at FTT Festival London, which was focused on the ethical and responsible use of AI in financial services, Alex Smith stressed the challenge the FCA faces in understanding what is happening in the regulatory environment given the huge amount of information they receive from thousands of firms, ranging from small local businesses to major corporations.

“Every single company in this room is facing the challenge of assessing how to effectively use AI in their organisation,” he told the audience. “This is certainly also happening within the regulatory framework of the FCA, and the promising initial results obtained from some proof of concepts suggest that this technology definitely has a future.”

In June, the FCA partnered with technology firm Nvidia to launch a ‘Supercharged Sandbox’ to help firms experiment safely with AI.

The sandbox is open to any financial services firm looking to innovate and experiment with AI, with the regulatory saying that it will give firms access to better data, technical expertise and regulatory support.

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