<article>Innovation and bureaucracy don&#8217;t generally go together. Unless you&#8217;re talking about Singapore.</article>

Innovation and bureaucracy don&#8217;t generally go together. Unless you&#8217;re talking about Singapore.
Headlining the 30th-anniversary global conference of Vertex Ventures on Tuesday, Singapore finance minister Heng Swee Keat called on venture capital firms to embrace disruption and take risks.
&#8220;VCs will play a very significant role in the coming years. If you look at economic development, different enterprises will need different types of funding and risk profiles. I think VCs in all series will need to play that role in investing in the riskiest part of venture, and being able to take risks,&#8221; said Heng.
These aren&#8217;t empty words.
Last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/wip-mas-story-84668/">simplified rules to shorten and speed up the authorisation process for VC firms.</a> The idea is to shore up more VCs that will drive the startup ecosystem and put more capital to work.
There is already a slight bump in VC numbers. MAS said it has licensed 34 venture capital fund management (VCFM) companies as at 24 August 2018. &#8220;Of these, 25 VCFM companies were new entrants, while 9 were existing licensed or registered fund managers that switched their regulatory status to VCFMs,&#8221; it explained in a statement.
&#8220;The line across different trade sectors are blurring today and the ability to connect these different dots will be quite important. I hope that VCs will play that role in connecting those dots&#8230;Your (VCs) ability to bring in that skillset and the right mentors to be able to coach and mentor a startup will be very important for the success of startups,&#8221; Heng said on Tuesday. 
MAS has also adopted a &#8220;sandbox model&#8221; since 2016, allowing fintech startups to test new ideas under relaxed rules over a set period. The regulatory requirements tested include credit rating, minimum paid-up capital and fund solvency.
It is a model MAS claims other regulators around the world are picking up on. According to a Business Times report, MAS is also looking to revise this model to further speed up the approval process.

Singapore finance minister Heng Swee Keat called on venture capital firms in the city-state to embrace disruption and take risks. 

VCs to play significant role in the age of disruption, says SG finance minister

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VCs to play significant role in the age of disruption, says SG finance minister

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