The sandbox serves two purposes: First, it allows experiments to take place, even where it is not possible at the outset to anticipate every risk or meet every regulatory requirement. Second, it provides an environment where if an experiment fails, it fails safely and cheaply within controlled boundaries, without widespread adverse consequences. How will the sandbox work? MAS and the applicant will jointly define the boundaries within which the experiment will take place. MAS will then determine the specific legal and regulatory requirements which it is prepared to relax for the duration of the experiment within these boundaries. We have received several sandbox applications since June, from FIs and FinTech players. The proposals leverage a range of technologies including distributed ledgers, machine learning, and big data analytics. MAS is reviewing the applications and looks forward to having some of these proposals launched in the sandbox soon. Meanwhile, we will be issuing today our finalised regulatory sandbox guidelines, incorporating feedback from the industry and road-tested against the actual sandbox applications we have received. Strengthening Cyber Security A smart financial centre must be a safe financial centre. As more financial services are delivered over the Internet, there will be growing security and privacy concerns from cyber threats. Users will have confidence in new technologies and innovative services only to the extent they have confidence in cyber security. Strengthening cyber security is therefore an important part of Singapore’s FinTech agenda. MAS works closely with other government agencies and the industry to help ensure cyber-defences are robust.

Given the interconnectedness of financial activities and systems, an effective cyber defence strategy requires close co-operation and sharing of cyber intelligence. A good model for such co-operation among banks in the US is the Financial Services – Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, or FS-ISAC. 4/9  BIS central bankers' speeches  It is the global financial industry’s go-to resource for cyber threat intelligence analysis and sharing. I am pleased to announce that FS-ISAC will set up in Singapore the industry body’s only cyber intelligence centre in the Asia-Pacific region. This centre will help our financial industry better monitor cyber threats and provide better intelligence support. It will also help deepen the capabilities of the cyber security community here. INFRASTRUCTURE for an Innovation Ecosystem The second key thrust of Singapore’s FinTech agenda is to facilitate the infrastructure necessary for an innovation ecosystem and the adoption of new technologies. We need an ecosystem where people can connect and collaborate, and ideas can flow and multiply. We need common standards and inter-operable systems so that innovations can be scaled up quickly and their potential benefits fully realised. W want a hundred flowers of innovation to bloom but also want to ensure they make a garden. To facilitate such an ecosystem, MAS started with itself: Last year, we formed within MAS a new FinTech & Innovation Group under a Chief FinTech Officer – probably the first regulator in the world to do so.