UK-Singapore financial cooperation to extend to infrastructure, public-private investment

The move was agreed during the inaugural ‘UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue’ meeting in Singapore on 28 January, which aims to encourage “deeper financial and economic cooperation” between the two countries.

Both sides welcomed the launch of TheCityUK’s ASEAN Market Advisory Group, a private sector initiative comprising senior experts and practitioners from across the industry to identify trade and investment opportunities.

The meeting, chaired by deputy managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Jacqueline Loh, and HM Treasury’s director-general of financial services Charles Roxburgh, also welcomed the launch a day earlier of the private sector-led Singapore-London Renminbi (RMB) Forum (4-page / 204 KB PDF).

The Forum, which was attended by senior representatives of 16 financial institutions from both Singapore and London, said both sides had seen rapid growth in their Chinese renminbi markets “and consolidated their positions as major offshore renminbi centres”.

The currency “gained significant traction as a trade and investment currency in 2014, on account of major strides made by China in capital account liberalisation and financial reforms”, the Forum said in a statement.

The Forum said its participants “expect continued robust growth in the offshore renminbi market in 2015”. “In particular, the renminbi is expected to make considerable headway as an investment currency, and in the future, as a reserve currency, reaping the benefits of favourable policy and market infrastructure,” the Forum said.

Both Singapore and London “are well-positioned to support the growth of renminbi activities, given their roles as international financial centres, commodity trading hubs and riding on strong business/trade links between China, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Europe”, the Forum said.

The setting up of the Forum and Financial Dialogue was announced last year by UK chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and Singapore’s deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also finance minister and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Osborne said then: “London and Singapore are integral players in renminbi markets outside of Greater China. Our financial firms and institutions are leading the way in promoting the use of renminbi and I am pleased to support work to help develop it further.”

Singapore ranked first in the ‘Second Global Infrastructure Investment Index’ (28-page / 3MB PDF) published last year by international construction consultancy ARCADIS.