The Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will work together to boost cybersecurity and resilience in both countries’ financial sectors.

The regulators in both jurisdictions are working towards a memorandum of understanding to formalise the partnership, MAS said in a statement.

The agreement was made at the UK-Singapore Business Summit held in London last week, which celebrated the bicentennial of the relationship between the two nations. The commemoration also hosted the unveiling of an IP insurance initiative between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and Lloyd’s.

According to Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, the average cost of cybercrime for financial services companies has leaped by more than 40% globally over the past three years.

“Cyber risk is not constrained by geographic boundaries, making international cooperation essential to address this growing threat,” he said.

Aside from cybersecurity, Singapore also signed an MOU with the City of London on key areas of financial cooperation, such as facilitating data flows, enhancing cross-border ‘know-your-customer’ processes, developing skills and competencies in the financial sector, and promoting green finance.

“The initiatives we are working on – data flows and governance, cyber security, skills development, and green finance – will enable continued dynamism and stability in Singapore’s and London’s financial centres,” said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, as well as Chairman of MAS. “I look forward to the continuing, active collaborations between our authorities as well as between our partners in the financial industry.”