What happened
In May 2026, Singapore's IMDA published version 1.5 of its Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI — the first government-issued framework written specifically for AI systems that can plan, reason, and act autonomously across multiple steps. More than 60 organisations, including OCBC, PwC, Tencent, and Google, contributed feedback, and IMDA updated the framework again in June with real-world case studies.
Our take
What stands out isn't the framework's content so much as who helped shape it — a genuine cross-section of finance, tech, and consulting, not government working in isolation. For most SMEs, the practical takeaway isn't reading the framework line by line — it's starting to document, in plain terms, who's accountable when an AI agent your business uses gets something wrong. That question is the throughline of every agentic AI governance conversation happening right now, in Singapore and everywhere else. Businesses that sort out basic accountability now will have a far easier time when clients or regulators start actually asking.
Source: Mayer Brown — AI Regulation in Singapore and Hong Kong: A Mid-Year Checkpoint
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