Sopnendu Mohanty Honoured with Outstanding AI & Fintech Governance Leadership Award

Sopnendu Mohanty, Group CEO of the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) and former Chief FinTech Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has been honoured with the Outstanding AI & Fintech Governance Leadership Award 2025 in recognition of his exceptional contributions to global policy, innovation, and responsible governance in financial technology and artificial intelligence.

The award, conferred at the Asian Digital Finance Forum & Awards 2025 at Port City Colombo, was later presented in person to Mohanty by Rajkumar Kanagasingam, Asian Digital Finance Forum and Awards Convener and Global Fintech Institute (Singapore) Industry Fellow, during the GFTN Insights Forum held alongside the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore.

The choice of Marina Bay Sands — overlooking the Marina Bay Financial District, which has come to symbolise Singapore’s rise as a global financial powerhouse — underscored the significance of the moment. As a hub for many of the world’s foremost fintech and AI dialogues, Marina Bay reflects the very principles Mohanty has championed: responsible innovation, inclusive finance, and cross-border cooperation.

His recognition marks a decade of pioneering leadership that has helped define global standards for fintech and AI governance and shaped Singapore’s emergence as a trusted model for innovation and digital finance.

Mohanty’s influence spans more than a decade of transformative work. As MAS’s inaugural Chief FinTech Officer from 2015 to 2025, he played a defining role in positioning Singapore as one of the most progressive and trusted digital finance ecosystems in the world. He oversaw the creation and rapid expansion of the Singapore FinTech Festival into the largest global platform for fintech and AI engagement, attracting thousands of regulators, innovators, investors, and industry leaders each year.

Under his leadership, MAS launched Project Ubin, a multi-phase exploration of blockchain-based clearing and settlement systems that laid a foundation for global CBDC development. Its insights directly contributed to international pilots including the Bank for International Settlements’ Project Dunbar — a landmark initiative that tested a shared multi-CBDC settlement platform across multiple jurisdictions.

Mohanty also championed regional payment connectivity, linking Singapore’s PayNow with Malaysia’s DuitNow and establishing pathways to Thailand and India, positioning Southeast Asia as a global benchmark for real-time cross-border payments.

He guided Singapore’s digital banking framework, licensing regime, and regulatory sandboxes, enabling emerging fintech models to innovate safely under supervised conditions.

Mohanty became internationally recognised for his principled stance on digital-asset and cryptocurrency regulation, consistently emphasising that innovation must strengthen financial integrity.

His leadership has been profiled widely by Bloomberg, the Financial Times, The Economist, Fortune, and Forbes.

In 2025, Mohanty assumed a new global mandate as the founding Group CEO of GFTN, a not-for-profit organisation advancing international cooperation on responsible AI adoption, digital-finance innovation, and regulatory harmonisation. GFTN brings together central banks, financial regulators, development institutions, and technology partners to co-create shared digital public goods.

Presenting the award during the GFTN Insights Forum highlighted Mohanty’s continued global influence across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

All recognitions at the Asian Digital Finance Forum & Awards 2025 underwent a rigorous independent validation process led by Dr. Sivaguru S. Sritharan, Global Validation Chair of the Awards. Dr. Sritharan — a distinguished aerodynamicist, AI researcher, and former Provost of the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology — introduced a scientifically grounded evaluation framework combining multidisciplinary research review, generative-AI-assisted analysis, leadership-impact verification, cross-border benchmarking, and ethical-governance scoring.

The Asian Digital Finance Forum & Awards 2025 — organised by the Asian FinTech Academy (AFTA) in collaboration with the Fintech Association of Sri Lanka (FASL) and supported by Tech London Advocates (TLA), Global Tech Advocates (GTA), the International Digital Economies Association (iDEA), and Wall Street Fintech AI Inc. (USA) — also recognised distinguished international fintech and AI leaders including Neil Tan of Hong Kong, Purvi Munot of the UAE, and Amira Abdelaziz of Egypt. Institutional honours went to Nium of Singapore and Paytm of India, alongside a special visionary recognition to Port City Colombo.

As Asia accelerates the integration of AI into financial systems and expands cross-border digital infrastructure, the recognition of Sopnendu Mohanty marks a significant milestone in the region’s leadership journey.

Mohanty’s legacy continues to shape not only Singapore’s regulatory landscape but also the global frameworks guiding the next generation of financial innovation.

Contact Information

Rajkumar Kanagasingam

Convener

Asian Digital Finance Forum & Awards

Contact via E-mail