> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://stablecoininsider.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Singapore Opens Its Stablecoin Label to Foreign Issuers While Banning Interest - URL: https://stablecoininsider.org/mas-singapore-stablecoin-consultation-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-01T10:33:19.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-01T10:33:19.000Z - Description: MAS proposed Payment Services Act amendments on September 1, 2026, banning interest on regulated stablecoins and opening recognition to foreign issuers. - Author: Milos Djukanovic - Tags: News, Stablecoin Regulations The Monetary Authority of Singapore proposed amendments to the Payment Services Act 2019 on September 1, 2026 that would move its stablecoin framework from finalised policy into enforceable law. The consultation, numbered P015-2026 and accompanied by draft legislative text, closes on October 16. The most consequential proposal reverses a position MAS took three years ago. Having ruled in 2023 that qualifying stablecoins must be issued solely in Singapore, the regulator now proposes recognising a limited number of foreign-issued tokens supervised under comparable regimes, and allowing jointly issued Singapore and foreign tokens to carry the MAS-regulated label. The framework also hardens in other directions. Issuers would be prohibited from paying interest, required to run quarterly stress tests, and required to maintain the ability to trace, freeze, or burn tokens linked to illicit activity. > Only issuers meeting the full regime could describe their tokens as "MAS-regulated stablecoins". Everything else remains a Digital Payment Token under existing rules. ### Key Takeaways - **MAS published consultation P015-2026 on September 1**, with draft legislative text and an October 16 deadline. - **Foreign-issued stablecoins could gain limited recognition**, reversing the 2023 Singapore-only requirement. - **Interest payments to holders would be prohibited**, matching the GENIUS Act and MiCA approach. - **Issuers must be able to trace, freeze, or burn tokens** linked to illicit activity. - **Non-qualifying tokens are not banned**, but cannot use the MAS-regulated designation. --- ## What the Framework Requires The MAS Single-Currency Stablecoin framework applies to tokens issued in Singapore and pegged to the Singapore dollar or a G10 currency. Issuers would need reserve assets covering at least 100% of outstanding tokens, redemption at par, and compliance with rules on capital, disclosure, and reserve management. The label is the enforcement mechanism. Only licensed issuers meeting the full regime could describe themselves as MAS-regulated stablecoin issuers or represent their tokens as MAS-regulated stablecoins, which MAS says helps users distinguish supervised products from tokens that merely claim stability. New safeguards go beyond the 2023 policy. Alongside the interest prohibition, issuers would face quarterly stress testing, recovery and orderly wind-down plans, and protections for customer money received before tokens are issued. Enforcement powers extend to circulation itself. MAS proposes potential restrictions including delisting by licensed digital payment token providers for systemically important stablecoins that fail to meet requirements, a supervisory reach that goes further than most frameworks we track in our [**stablecoin infrastructure landscape**](https://stablecoininsider.org/stablecoin-infrastructure-landscape-2026/). [![Stablecoin Infrastructure Landscape 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-01-at-12.26.41.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/stablecoin-infrastructure-landscape-2026/) --- ## The Reversal on Foreign Issuance MAS first consulted on stablecoin regulation in October 2022 and published its response in August 2023, concluding that qualifying tokens must be issued solely in Singapore. This consultation revisits that conclusion directly. Two openings are proposed. Stablecoins jointly issued by a Singapore issuer and a foreign issuer could be regulated under the framework and carry the MAS-regulated label, provided risks are sufficiently mitigated, and a limited number of foreign-issued tokens supervised under comparable overseas frameworks could receive recognition. The stated reason is cross-border wholesale use. MAS cited the role such tokens could play in wholesale transactions, which is a different use case from the retail payments the original framework centred on. The design is deliberately restrictive. Rather than recognising every overseas licence as equivalent, limiting recognition lets MAS assess individual regimes while controlling how many foreign tokens carry regulatory status in Singapore. --- ## Why This Matters for Stablecoins The interest prohibition puts Singapore alongside the two largest frameworks. The GENIUS Act bars permitted payment stablecoin issuers from paying yield, MiCA does the same for e-money tokens, and MAS is now proposing the identical restriction. That convergence is becoming the defining feature of regulated stablecoins globally. Three major jurisdictions have independently concluded that a payment instrument should not compete with bank deposits on return, which pushes yield-seeking capital toward tokenised funds instead. The freeze-and-burn requirement is the more distinctive provision. Requiring issuers to demonstrate the technical capability to trace, freeze, or burn tokens linked to illicit activity makes centralised control an explicit licensing condition rather than an implicit expectation. The timing places Singapore inside a live institutional debate. The Bank for International Settlements argued at Jackson Hole last week that stablecoins fail as payment at scale and tokenised deposits should carry the load, a position we covered in our [**BIS Jackson Hole analysis**](https://stablecoininsider.org/bis-jackson-hole-stablecoins-tokenised-deposits/), while MAS is building a licensing path for the instrument. [![BIS Chief Says Stablecoins Are Not Credible for Payments at Scale](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-01-at-12.27.08.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/bis-jackson-hole-stablecoins-tokenised-deposits/) --- ## What Happens to Everything Else Tokens outside the framework are not prohibited. They continue as Digital Payment Tokens under the Payment Services Act, with service providers dealing in them still subject to licensing, anti-money-laundering, and consumer protection rules. The restriction is on representation. Those tokens cannot be presented as MAS-regulated stablecoins, which creates a two-tier market defined by labelling rather than prohibition. Existing DPT safeguards already constrain that tier. Singapore has restricted trading incentives, financing, and leverage, and limited locally issued credit card payments for digital payment token purchases. No implementation date has been set. The proposals are not yet effective, MAS has not announced when a final framework would take force, and the outcome depends on feedback due by 11.59pm Singapore time on October 16, alongside rulemaking elsewhere that has run behind schedule as we tracked in our [**GENIUS Act rulemaking analysis**](https://stablecoininsider.org/the-genius-act-july-18-rulemaking-deadline-has-arrived-the-rules-are-not-ready/). [![The GENIUS Act July 18 Rulemaking Deadline Has Arrived. The Rules Are Not Ready.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-01-at-12.27.36.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/the-genius-act-july-18-rulemaking-deadline-has-arrived-the-rules-are-not-ready/) --- ## Conclusion Singapore is doing two things at once, tightening the conditions for carrying its regulatory label while opening the label to issuers it previously excluded. Those moves point in opposite directions and both follow from the same goal. The interest ban confirms an international consensus that has formed without formal coordination. Three major frameworks now separately prohibit paying holders yield, which effectively defines what a regulated stablecoin is allowed to be. What the consultation leaves open is which foreign regimes qualify. MAS has said the number will be limited and comparable, and the assessments it makes will amount to a public ranking of stablecoin frameworks by a regulator other jurisdictions watch closely. --- ## FAQ: ### **1\. What did MAS propose?** On September 1, 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore published consultation P015-2026 proposing amendments to the Payment Services Act 2019 to implement its stablecoin framework in law. The proposals establish a dedicated stablecoin issuance licence and reserve the label MAS-regulated stablecoin for tokens whose issuers meet the full regime, with feedback due October 16, 2026. ### **2\. What are the main requirements?** Issuers must hold reserve assets covering at least 100% of outstanding tokens, support redemption at par, and meet rules on capital, disclosure, and reserve management. New proposals add a prohibition on paying interest, quarterly stress testing, recovery and orderly wind-down plans, and the capability to trace, freeze, or burn tokens linked to illicit activity. ### **3\. Can foreign stablecoins qualify?** MAS proposes recognising a limited number of foreign-issued stablecoins regulated under comparable overseas frameworks, citing cross-border wholesale use cases. It also proposes allowing stablecoins jointly issued by a Singapore issuer and a foreign issuer to carry the MAS-regulated label if risks are sufficiently mitigated, revisiting its 2023 position that qualifying stablecoins must be issued solely in Singapore. ### **4\. What happens to stablecoins that do not qualify?** They are not prohibited. Tokens outside the framework continue to be treated as Digital Payment Tokens under the Payment Services Act, and service providers dealing in them remain subject to licensing, anti-money-laundering, and consumer protection rules. They simply cannot be presented as MAS-regulated stablecoins. ### **5\. When would the rules take effect?** No implementation date has been announced. The proposals are not yet effective, and MAS is accepting feedback until 11.59pm Singapore time on October 16, 2026 before finalising the legislative amendments. --- ***Disclaimer:*** This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice; no material herein should be interpreted as a recommendation, endorsement, or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument, and readers should conduct their own independent research or consult a qualified professional.