MAS eyes bigger funding landscape for Singapore startups

It is reviewing regulations for venture capital managers.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is now reviewing its regulatory regime for venture capital (VC) managers to grow more VC activity in the efforts to create an innovation village.

In a speech, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said MAS is looking to significantly simplify and shorten the authorisation process for new VC managers.

This is in part of working alongside with the VC industry to grow the funding landscape for start-ups in Singapore and the region.

"...to the extent that there are contractual safeguards to provide sufficient protection to a VC’s sophisticated investor base, MAS is also looking to exempt VC managers frombusiness conduct requirements that are currently applied to asset managers in general," the deputy prime minister said.

He also noted that MAS is studying whether existing incentives for funds and fund managers are suitable to anchor VC funds and VC fund managers in the city-state.

"We recognise that VC funds and fund managers are typically smaller in size and headcount than traditional asset managers. But they contribute in a different way, by supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in Singapore and the region," he explained.

MAS will be facilitating a public consultation on its proposals in January next year, and targets to introduce changes by July 2017.