The Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Tuesday it would launch a vaulting service to hold bullion for foreign central banks and lower taxes on some gold-market companies as it competes for a bigger share of the precious metals trade.

  • “Developing our gold market is an extension of Singapore’s role as a trusted financial centre,” said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is ​also Singapore’s minister for trade and industry and chairman of MAS
  • The gold ​vaulting service will hold bullion reserves on behalf of foreign central ⁠banks, international financial institutions and sovereign entities in Singapore’s national currency vault, which has ​room for 500 metric tons
  • “With growing demand for gold as a reserve asset, central ​banks are looking for more options to strengthen their resilience,” Gan said
  • “There’s interest that has been expressed to us. Because these were confidential, I won’t be able to share details of which ​particular central banks have approached us,” he added
  • MAS and the Ministry of Finance will ​also seek to introduce a new tax framework from April next year, extending tax relief for ‌gold ⁠to wholesale services between institutional participants, such as vaulting, refining, recasting, assaying and broking
  • “Taken together, these initiatives will put in place the key building blocks for a deeper and more vibrant Singapore gold market, facilitate price discovery and risk management during Asian ​trading hours, while strengthening ​Singapore’s role as ⁠a trusted connector to established gold centres and global liquidity,” MAS said in a statement
  • The move comes as Singapore prepares to ​launch an over-the-counter gold clearing system by the end of the ​year
  • Live trading ⁠and market operations are expected to commence by March 2027, with gold market liquidity building throughout the year, MAS said in its statement
  • Separately, SGX’s physically deliverable gold kilobar futures ⁠are ​targeted for launch in the second quarter of 2027, ​the statement added
  • Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s government has been pushing to expand bullion storage and develop the city ​as an international gold trading centre