20+ Banks set to join Singapore-Hong Kong Blockchain-powered Trade Network

More than twenty banks are expected to join a DLT-based trade network being built jointly by partners Singapore and Hong Kong.

By News Desk - November 18, 2017 (cryptovest.com)

Top Central Bankers from Singapore and Hong Kong have confirmed that more than 20 global banks will be joining their partnership to build a blockchain-based trade network.

The development was announced at the Singapore Fintech Festival this Thursday. The project is called the Hong Kong Trade Finance Platform (HKTFP), and is the result of a collaboration between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The HKTFP – a pilot which has been described as a global trade connectivity network (GTCN) which will digitize trade finance – is among the first of its kind and is an initiative which is expected to serve as a global model for the industry.

The partnership between competitors Singapore and Hong Kong is geared toward the advancement and promotion of fintech and blockchain, and the HKTFP is a major part of the collaboration. The platform is designed to ensure the smooth transfer of digital data, to facilitate global trade that passes through Singapore and Hong Kong – both major trade hubs.

The launch date for the HKTFP is early 2019, as was announced by the MAS earlier this week; Singapore is likely to target the Asean region with the project, while Hong Kong will be focusing on China.

Currently, however, the DLT pilot is still under development. Numerous aspects are being ironed out, and Li Shu-Pui, executive director HKMA, revealed that banks involved in the project have raised multiple concerns, among them worries about data and transaction privacy. He added that it was imperative for regulators worldwide to start laying down rules for the oversight of blockchain tech, so it could fully play its part in the rapidly advancing trade finance sector.

Both HKMA and MAS also aim to expand the scope of the HKTFP, and expect European banks to get involved as the project develops and progresses.