The ABS Standing Committee on Data Management (SCDM) was established in November 2019 to:

• Promote collaboration across the banking sector within Singapore and beyond on data management issues faced by member banks;

• Facilitate engagement of relevant stakeholders to enable the effective use of data for better delivery of financial services by member banks through:

  • Setting of standards and industry guidelines; and

  • Sharing of best pratices

• Work with MAS and appropriate government agencies for industry-level engagement to drive data-driven innovation in Singapore and support the growth of Singapore as an international financial centre.

1) The Handbook covers:

• An example of the Data Sharing Journey that banks and ecosystem partners typically embark on when looking to share or acquire data, and key considerations along the way.

• Data Sharing Principles that can help ground the decisions that organisations, both banks and non-banks, make along their data sharing journeys.

• Guidance on the types of data that banks have, the classification of shared data according to sensitivity, as well as examples of data sharing mechanisms and privacy preserving technologies.

• Key legal and regulatory considerations that organisations should take into account when looking to engage in data sharing with banks in Singapore, as well as guidance on the elements and types of data sharing contracts.

2) In July 2021, the ABS as the Chair of Committee on Cooperation in Finance, Investment, Trade and Technology (COFITT), led an ASEAN-level Taskforce comprising the local national banking associations under the umbrella of ASEAN Bankers Association (“ABA”), curated an interoperable data framework for the ASEAN banking community. The objective of this framework was to:

• Foster innovation in financial services - It aims to improve the financial inclusion through greater exchanges of information through trusted data flows driving transparency in credit worthiness and risks. With the innovation fostered, it increases customised services and processes to cater for different market segments.

• Establish interoperable standards for data sharing – the standards help to improve integrity of information shared with agreed standards of data quality and metadata. Such data standards increase consistency for data collection and data processing and drive greater accountability and transparency on use of data.

• Foster collaboration - this encourages a culture of collaboration to drive efficiencies and effectiveness through data sharing, such as in financial crime and fraud detection etc.