Islamic finance set to expand in S'pore

Islamic finance is expanding in Singapore, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore is committed to further developing this important segment of the financial services industry, said MAS Assistant Managing Director Ng Nam Sin. Speaking at an Islamic finance event at SMU on Wednesday, Mr Ng said that Singapore leverages on its strengths in wholesale banking, asset management and capital markets to allow Islamic financial services to flourish. Addressing two tax incentives for Islamic finance which were allowed to lapse, Mr Ng said: "Recently, we had allowed to lapse two of the tax incentives for Islamic finance introduced in Budget 2008. Like all our tax incentives, they have a fixed tenure and in this case, of five years." However, he gave his assurance that Islamic finance activities would continue to be incentivised alongside conventional finance activities.