Singapore: SBI Digital Markets snags license to offer digital asset services

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SBI Digital Markets Pte Ltd has been awarded a Capital Markets Services (CMS) License in Singapore. The firm was issued the license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) after receiving an in-principle approval back in May.

The scope of the license will see the subsidiary of the Japanese-based SBI Group carry out regulated activities in the spheres of corporate finance and custodial services with the ecosystem of digital assets for both public and private investors. Following the receipt of the license, SBI Digital Markets say that it plans to create its proprietary digital asset securities platform to help operators in traditional finance transition to Web 3.

“Being awarded the license and the backing of the SBI Group sends a message that we are a first-choice institutional digital asset securities issuance platform to financial institutions in the region,” said Winston Quek, CEO of SBI Digital Markets. “Singapore’s financial regulatory system is among the most respected in the world for its rigor and transparency, so MAS’s license signals the standards at which we will operate to our potential partners.”

The recent milestone attained by the firm is part of a renewed effort to explore new frontiers after the dire macroeconomic effects of the last six months. The company was forced to terminate its mining operations in Russia due to falling prices and tighter sanctions imposed by Western powers.

Across the Atlantic, an arm of the company was given the green light by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer OTC digital assets derivatives products using physical settlement.

As a subsidiary of the financial conglomerate SBI Group, analysts anticipate the firm’s collaboration with its sister companies. The firm disclosed after receiving an in-principle that it will partner with Asia Digital Exchange, a Singaporean-based digital asset exchange, and the Swiss SIX group.

Singapore’s regulator uses a tight leash over the industry

The MAS serves as the country’s central bank, charged with promoting economic growth. To achieve its statutory duties, the MAS has the power to grant and revoke licenses to companies operating in the digital assets industry.

In recent months, the regulator has adopted a fiercer stance towards the entire industry to discourage speculation, which its Managing Director Ravi Menon says is “the source of the crypto world’s problems.” The MAS says it will achieve this by “adding friction” to digital assets by banning their use and stifling the access to credit facilities for traders.

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