Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at Singapore’s central bank, is stepping down from his role in February 2025 after years of being the face of the city-state’s innovations in the financial sector.
He will be joining Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), a non-profit organisation launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, that will support innovations in the financial sector through global partnerships, according to a statement on Wednesday. GFTN also aims to strengthen Singapore’s position as a global fintech hub.
As GFTN’s CEO, Mohanty will be reunited with his former MAS colleague Ravi Menon, who has been appointed as chairman of the board of the firm. Menon, the longest-serving chief at MAS, retired as managing director of MAS earlier this year and has since been the city-state’s ambassador for climate action and senior adviser for climate change at the Prime Minister’s Office.
MAS’s deputy managing director Sing Chiong Leong and Tikehau Capital’s non-executive chairman Neil Parekh will join the duo as deputy chairmen at GFTN.
GFTN will build on the success of Elevandi, a not-for-profit company set up by MAS in 2021 to organise and globalise Singapore FinTech Festival, an annual flagship conference for the industry.
“GFTN is basically Elevandi on steroids, without the negative connotations,” Menon quipped at a briefing held on Wednesday ahead of the conference in November.
GFTN will consist of four businesses: conference convenor dedicated to finance and technology, advisory services and research for policies and ecosystems, digital platform service provider for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, and investment fund for startups.
The first three business segments will be funded by MAS and will operate with a profit cap under the holding company GFTN. The legal structure of the fund, dubbed GFTN Capital, will be separated from other businesses as it will be commercially run.
The fund will have a traditional venture capital fund structure where it will pool together external capital from limited partners around the world to achieve the typical commercial-rate returns, according to Menon and Parekh. Details about the Singapore-registered fund will be announced upon receiving a licence from the regulator.
“GFTN is aimed at addressing the evolving requirements of the global fintech ecosystem, and is strategically positioned to realise our mission through the integration of convening forums, advisory, digital platforms, and capital,” said Mohanty.
Kenneth Gay, who has been with MAS for over two decades, will be appointed as designate chief fintech officer and assume the role when Mohanty departs, according to a separate statement by MAS. He currently serves as executive director leading the Enterprise Knowledge Department at MAS, engaging in data and knowledge management as well as AI capability development.
