Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 11 2025

14 QUICK LINKS AIFMD CBDC CRYPTOASSETS DIGITAL ASSETS FINTECH FSB MIFID/MIFIR (UK) IFR/IFD OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE OUTSOURCING SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG T+1 TOKENISATION ASIA PACIFIC EUROPE NETHERLANDS NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 11 | 2025 The SFC adds that it has also proposed consequential amendments to relevant provisions of the SFC Code on MPF Products, the Code on Pooled Retirement Funds, the Code on Investment-Linked Assurance Schemes and the Code on Real Estate Investment Trusts. The public is invited to submit their comments to the SFC on or before 21 January 2026. Link to Consultation here MAS Launches BLOOM Initiative to Extend Settlement Capabilities On 16 October 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a new initiative – BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency), to extend settlement capabilities offered by financial institutions. Through BLOOM, MAS says that it will collaborate with the financial industry to enable settlement in tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins, whilst effectively managing risks in the rapidly evolving digital settlement asset landscape, through standardised approaches. MAS says that BLOOM builds upon the groundwork established through Project Orchid, which explored use cases for a digital Singapore dollar and the infrastructure required to support it. Established in 2021, more than 10 trials have been successfully conducted as part of Project Orchid. Insights from these trials have culminated in industry reports detailing practical real-world applications. Participating financial institutions have since translated their learnings into market-ready commercial offerings. MAS says that BLOOM caters to the growing interest among private sector participants in tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins as settlement assets, and encompasses: • Multiple currencies : Use of G10 and Asian currencies; • Domestic and cross-border payments : Cross-border payments and settlement; and • Wholesale use cases : Examples include corporate treasury management, trade finance, and agentic payments. MAS adds that BLOOMmembers will collaborate to address challenges and opportunities of common interest to the industry. Initial focus areas include: • Distribution and clearing of settlement assets . The aim is to coordinate disparate networks and enable the seamless use, transfer and redemption of different forms of settlement assets. • Programmable controls to enhance and automate compliance checks . The use of standardised mechanisms for compliance checks, enable more consistency in implementations and lower cost of compliance. This will enable more cost-effective cross-border wholesale settlement arrangements. • Agentic payments for seamless and automated transactions . This will explore the use of AI agents that execute transactions automatically within pre-defined limits and conditions. This seeks to reduce the burden of managing payments manually and optimise costs by timing transfers to when conditions are most favourable. MAS says that it welcomes the initial members of BLOOMwho bring their collective expertise and global perspectives to the initiative and looks forward to partnering additional financial institutions, industry partners and fellow regulatory bodies to advance BLOOM’s objectives. Link to MAS Homepage here SFC Supports REIT Market Growth with NewDedicated Channel and Streamlined Authorisation Process On 13 October 2025, the SFC launched the REIT Channel to facilitate the authorisation of new real estate investment trusts (REITs) for public offerings, as part of its ongoing efforts to advance the development of Hong Kong’s REIT market. The new dedicated, one-stop channel enables both local and global REIT applicants to consult the SFC regarding their applications on a confidential basis, thereby enhancing their listing preparation and efficiency.