How banks in Singapore put agentic AI to work

Against this backdrop, MAS on Jul 3 unveiled the Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime (SAFR), an
industry white paper providing a set of governance checkpoints that verify and record an AI agent’s proposed
actions before it executes its tasks.

Observers have described this as a “genuine turning point” in moving the financial industry from broad
principles to operational safeguards.

“AI agents are no longer theoretical for financial institutions,” said Bryan Keasberry, Apac head of market
development at compliance software provider Fenergo.

“Firms are already exploring how they can support client onboarding, compliance reviews, advisory workflows
and operations, and the focus has shifted to how that can be done safely once AI starts interacting with
live systems, data and decision-making processes.”

Chris Robinson, group chief technology Officer at IQ-EQ, agreed, saying that the conversation has evolved
from whether institutions should use AI to how to deploy increasingly autonomous AI systems “safely,
transparently and at scale”.