Frankfurt and Singapore

A firm licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore needs its own authorization before it serves customers in the EU. Payment and e-money institutions apply under the PSD2 rules, and crypto firms apply for a license as a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA. In Germany the authorization comes from BaFin, and a BaFin license reaches the other member states through EU passporting.

For banks from Singapore the rules get stricter on 11 January 2027. From that day Article 21c of Directive (EU) 2024/1619 requires a bank from outside the EU that takes deposits, lends or gives guarantees to EU clients to run an authorized branch in a member state. Narrow exemptions remain, for example for a service the client asked for on its own initiative. The choice of license is the first step of a market entry in Germany.

On 13 November 2025 the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Deutsche Bundesbank signed a memorandum of understanding on cross-border digital asset settlement. The two central banks want settlement solutions that cut the cost and the processing time of transfers between Singapore and Germany. They also work on common standards for tokenized payments, foreign exchange and securities across different digital asset platforms. Burkhard Balz and Alexandra Hachmeister signed for the Bundesbank, and Leong Sing Chiong signed for the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The agreement builds on Project Guardian, which the Monetary Authority of Singapore started in May 2022 to test tokenization in regulated markets. The Bundesbank has been a member of the Guardian Policymaker Group since November 2024. Deutsche Bank joined Project Guardian in May 2024 and tests a platform for tokenized funds there under the name DAMA 2. In the Eurosystem trials of 2024 the Bundesbank itself tested DLT settlement in central bank money.

Deutsche Börse Group has its Singapore offices in Republic Plaza at Raffles Place. More than 230 employees work there, mainly for the settlement bank Clearstream and for the derivatives exchange Eurex. Deutsche Börse Market Data + Services and the currency trading platform 360T also have teams in the Singapore office. The group runs the Frankfurt Stock Exchange from its head office in Eschborn, at the edge of Frankfurt.

The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement has been in force since 21 November 2019. On 7 May 2025 the EU and Singapore signed the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement, the first standalone bilateral digital trade agreement of the EU. After ratification on both sides, that agreement entered into force on 1 February 2026.

The digital agreement covers cross-border data flows, electronic signatures and paperless trade. It bans unjustified data localization requirements and forced transfers of software source code. A fintech that runs its platform in Singapore and serves clients in Germany still has to protect their personal data under the GDPR.

The Singapore FinTech Festival is organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN). At the festival from 12 to 14 November 2025, Frankfurt Main Finance exhibited at the German Pavilion. BaFin, the Bundesbank and Hessen Trade & Invest, the economic development agency of the state of Hesse, had their own booths in the same pavilion.

German fintechs showed their products at the pavilion as well. Among them was AllUnity, the issuer of a euro stablecoin based in Frankfurt. The House of Finance & Tech Berlin and Germany Trade & Invest, the federal agency for foreign investors, took part in the pavilion too.

A fintech from Singapore can serve German customers once it holds an EU license or works through a licensed partner. Without such a license, only the reverse solicitation exemption is left, and that exemption is narrow. The ESMA guidelines on reverse solicitation under MiCA treat any marketing aimed at EU clients as solicitation.

Frankfurt hosts the European Central Bank and ECB Banking Supervision, which supervises the significant banks of the euro area directly. The European insurance and pensions authority EIOPA also has its seat in Frankfurt. On 22 February 2024 Frankfurt won the vote on the seat of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority with 28 of 54 votes.

Finance Loop is a professional network for emerging technologies in finance with more than 4,000 members, built in collaboration with Frankfurt Main Finance and TechQuartier. Finance Loop runs its events and meetups in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg, where banks, asset managers, supervisors and fintechs meet.

A team from Singapore can join a Finance Loop delegation to events such as Frankfurt Digital Finance and get personal introductions from the Finance Loop team. The free Network Membership is open to anyone working in finance, IT or AI.