Why Fintech Startups Love Singapore’s Hawk-Eyed Central Banker

The job of central bankers is to ensure the soundness of money and the financial system in their countries. So they often cast a wary eye at financial technology startups and the disruptive forces they can unleash. Not so for Ravi Menon.

As head of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Menon manages the city-state’s monetary policy, but he’s also the top financial watchdog for banks, insurers, and asset managers. In 2016 and 2017, MAS shut down the local units of two Swiss banks and imposed more than S$29 million ($21 million) in fines on financial institutions for breaches of anti-money laundering requirements linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd., the scandal-tainted Malaysian fund that’s the subject of investigations in the U.S. and Switzerland.