MAS shakes up banks' reporting standards

It will require data collection of RMB business activities and deposit rates to be rationalised.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) imposed regulatory changes on the reporting standards for banks in Singapore that will take effect on 1 October 2020. 

"This is in line with MAS’ objectives to collect data in machine-readable format and to reduce duplicate data submissions by financial institutions (FIs)," it said.

MAS will require the banks to collect more granular data of their assets and liabilities by currency, country, and industry. "Greater granularity allows better identification of potential risks to the banking system," MAS said.

The regulator will also require the rationalisation of the collection of data on RMB business activities and deposit rates. "The standardised requirements will provide greater consistency and reusability of the data," it added.

Also read: MAS to enforce new data collection rules

The last change involves the removal of the Domestic Banking Unit and Asian Currency Unit and for banks report their regulatory returns in Singapore dollar and foreign currency instead.

MAS had earlier provided banks with the finalised template for their data submissions on 29 March 2018. This will provide banks with 24 months to make the necessary changes to their systems and processes in order to meet the new requirements.

Banks can still use the existing reporting forms for data submission before 1 October 2020.

Meanwhile, the regulator has also formed an industry working group to review whether transactional data provided to the OTC trade repository can be used as an alternative source for data collected in the revised regulatory requirements. "If possible, this will further rationalise data collection for OTC data reporting, improving efficiency and reducing costs for banks," it concluded.