The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) have completed a first-of-its-kind digital cross-border trade finance document transfer (Fintech Futures).

This makes the initiative the world’s first cross-border digital trade financing pilot, a statement said.

A ‘TradeTrust’ framework developed by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in Singapore facilitated the pilot transfer between MAS and Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) regulatory body FSRA.

DBS Bank, Emirates NBD and Standard Chartered also worked on the project as commercial partners.

Legally, the pilot was backed by a UN affiliate-developed Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR). Both jurisdictions have adopted the model law, which legally recognises electronic transferable records locally and between borders.

Why it matters: Trade financing supports nearly 50% of international trade in some form, responsible for US$9 trillion worth of trade. Of this, global factoring and receivables finance is responsible for US$3 trillion worth of international trade.

However, cross-border trade finance, and trade-based money laundering and fraud, remain key issues for the industry to contend with, the statement pointed out. In this context, digitisation can help authenticate cross-border trade finance more securely and cost-effectively. The TradeTrust platform, for instance, is interoperable, and allows exchange of documents in real time, while providing digital proof of authenticity, origin and ownership.

MEA Fintech News Highlights

Regional news

South African BaaS platform Jumo raises US$120 million for expansion in Africa and Pakistan (Fintech News Africa).

Ecobank Group announces finalists of its fourth 2021 Ecobank Fintech Challenge (The Guardian Nigeria).

Pan-African digital payments gateway MFS Africa fetches US$100 million in its Series C fundraise (Fintech News Africa).

UAE’s Postpay partners with The Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), Mastercard and tutuka to launch “Shop Anywhere” BNPL in the Middle East (The Fintech Times).

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and DIFC FinTech Hive host a ‘speed meeting’ session for fintech startups from the UAE, Egypt, the US, the UK, the Czech Republic and Singapore (TradeArabia).

Flutterwave acquires content management company Disha in line with “endless possibilities” vision (TechCabal).

Pakistan

Pakistan-based cash flow management platform Udhaar Book secures US$6 million seed funding to digitise credit in retail shops (Fintech News Middle East).

UAE

UAE’s Sarwa officially launches zero commission and transfer fee trading platform Sarwa Trade (Fintech News Middle East).

UAE-based AI powered digital wealth manager FinaMaze launches “smartfolios” for prime retail clients (The National).

First Abu Dhabi Bank’s consumer services arm Dubai First partners with Mastercard over an experiential consumer engagement platform (The Fintech Times).

The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and Indonesian central bank Bank Indonesia sign MoU over digital payment and financial services, cross-border payment systems and AML frameworks (company announcement).

Investor consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s ARV Investments invests US$25 million in Singapore-based fintech TSLC (Gulf News).

UAE announces Entrepreneurial Nation initiative aimed at building 20 unicorns in the country by 2031 (The National).

Bahrain

Bahrain-based crypto exchange CoinMENA secures US$9.5 million seed funding (Fintech News Middle East).

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia fintech company Geidea announces partnership with channels by stc (the distribution arm of Saudi Telecom Company) for integrated suite of retail solutions (company announcement).

Qatar

Qatar Islamic Bank launches Video Banking service for the first time in Qatar through its QIB Mobile App (Gulf Times).

Iraq

Switzerland-based BNPL provider ZoodPay raises US$38 million Series B for Iraq expansion (The Paypers).

Nigeria

API fintech startup Stitch launches in Nigeria with Stitch Payments (TechCabal).

South Africa

South African fintech Finclusion to expand into Mozambique and Uganda by Q2 next year (The Africa Report).

Egypt

Egypt’s Paymob partners with Mastercard to launch Tap-on-phone digital payment (Arab News).

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This article was originally published on Fintech News Africa.

Featured image: edited from Unsplash