Singapore to allow banks to enter non-financial e-commerce

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's central bank will streamline regulatory requirements to allow banks to conduct or invest in non-financial e-commerce businesses, it said late on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, speaking at an event organised by the Association of Banks in Singapore, said that these will be businesses that are related to or complementary to banks' core financial operations.

"MAS (The Monetary Authority of Singapore) will allow banks to engage in the operation of digital platforms that match buyers and sellers of consumer goods or services as well as the online sale of such goods or services...," the central bank said in a statement.

Banks are currently prohibited from selling consumer goods.

MAS will issue a consultation paper on the operational details of the policy changes by the end of September.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Masayuki Kitano; Editing by David Goodman)