The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Deutsche Bundesbank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on tokenised asset settlement and cross-border payments, signalling a push to make next-generation financial infrastructure work more seamlessly across jurisdictions. The agreement was announced on 13 November 2025 and reflects growing central bank interest in interoperability as digital assets move closer to real-world use.
Unveiled during the Singapore FinTech Festival, the MoU sets out plans to jointly design and test digital settlement mechanisms linking Singapore and Germany. Both institutions said the work will focus on cutting processing times, lowering transaction costs and improving the ability of tokenised assets to move smoothly between different platforms and legal frameworks.
Interoperability moves to the forefront
Under the agreement, the two central banks will collaborate on common standards for cross-border payments, foreign exchange flows and securities settlement using tokenised assets. The aim is to reduce frictions that currently arise when financial institutions transact across incompatible systems, a challenge that has become more acute as tokenisation pilots proliferate globally.
The cooperation also builds on MAS’ ongoing Project Guardian, a multi-year initiative that brings together policymakers and industry participants to test asset tokenisation, new liquidity models and digital market infrastructure. By linking this work with a major European central bank, the project gains a stronger international dimension.
MAS Deputy Managing Director for Markets and Development Leong Sing Chiong said the partnership would deepen financial ties between the two economies. He noted that improved digital asset settlement could benefit individuals, corporates and financial market participants on both sides.
From the German side, Burkhard Balz, a member of the Bundesbank’s Executive Board, said the cooperation reflected a shared commitment to modernising financial infrastructure. He highlighted efficiency and interoperability in international payments and securities transactions as key objectives of the work.
Implications for Europe and Asia
For Germany, the initiative aligns with broader European efforts around digital settlement, including experimentation within the Eurosystem on tokenised assets and the digital euro. For Singapore, it reinforces the city-state’s position as a global hub for fintech experimentation and regulatory collaboration.
Market observers say agreements of this kind could eventually form the backbone of more integrated digital asset networks between Europe and Asia. While the MoU does not commit either central bank to operational deployment, it provides a framework for technical working groups, joint prototypes and pilot testing that could inform future policy decisions.
Both institutions described the agreement as a strategic step towards future-ready financial infrastructure, with interoperability rather than isolated national solutions increasingly seen as the decisive factor for success.