UK and Singapore Forge New AI and Tokenization Pact in London Talks

British and Singaporean officials gathered this week in London for the 10th British financial dialogue, using the conversations to coordinate approaches to digital finances, including Tokenized assets and artificial intelligence.

Held on Wednesday, the meeting Representatives brought together of the Financial Conduct Authority of the UK and the monetary authority of Singapore, as well as other financial and regulatory representatives.

The two countries agreed to continue to work on Project Guardian, a joint initiative between supervisors and the investment sector aimed at testing the real potential of Tokenized financial assets.

The next phase will include closer cooperation with industrial groups such as the UK Investment Association and the Investment Management Association of Singapore, with a focus on how tokenisation investments from a customer perspective can reform.

Discussions have also become the Global Layer One initiative, which give both countries back. The UK shared its early experience with the project, while Singapore gave updates on the progress.

GL1 aims to create shared ledger systems that enable the trade of Tokenized assets across borders with reduced technical and regulatory barriers.

A new era

In addition to the promise of digital innovation, the conversations also show how governments are struggling with rapidly evolving regulatory challenges in digital space.

Singapore’s recent tight Van Crypto exchange rules – announced just a few days earlier – marks the growing concern in the country about risks of financial crime and market instability with regard to crypto.

In the meantime, the UK tries to find a balance between the growth of the technical sector and the prevention of abuse, in particular in the field of AI.

Artificial intelligence attracted a lot of attention during the conversations.

The FCA and MAS investigated the state of AI acceptance in the financial sector, including current applications, risks and roadblocks to roll out further.

Both parties agreed to initiate formal cooperation on AI, with an AI-innovation show case in London on Wednesday, which emphasized aids and services developed in both countries.

The UK, which has seen an increase in political focus on AI, has launched an action plan to stimulate economic growth by AI and digital infrastructure. In January, the Labor Government explained Goals for AI growth agents and a national data library.

But efforts to enable AI developers to drive copyrighted content for training purposes have had to deal with severe opposition.

A proposed change to the Bill of the UK data (use and access) was rejected for the fourth time last month in the House of Lords after public recoil and warnings from musicians and artists for threats for creative rights.

Singapore, on the other hand, has opted for a lighter approach.

Although it does not yet have AI-specific laws, the government has issued a series of ethical guidelines and practical tools to steer the responsible development without suppressing innovation.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair