While commodities have been shipped through Singapore for centuries, the city state's banking industry is carving itself out a reputation as a hub for transaction services that support global trade.
The strategic importance of the port was recognised as far back as the 19th century when Singapore became a trading outpost of the UK's East India Company. These days, however, banking services to support this trade are increasingly being done out of Singapore and the financial transactions match the trading that has long been done in the physical world. Singapore’s transaction banking industry is also witnessing a shift in trade patterns: Chinese companies are now coming to Singapore to use it as an outpost to export to the West, and intra-Asian trade flows are on the rise.
