Key facts
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore opened a vault with room for 500 tons of bullion to foreign central banks and sovereign entities.
- Deputy Prime Minister and MAS chairman Gan Kim Yong said some central banks have expressed interest but would not name them.
- From April 2027, tax relief on gold extends to wholesale services between institutions, including vaulting, refining and broking.
- An SGX over-the-counter clearing system is due by year-end, with DBS, Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard, JPMorgan, OCBC and UOB as clearing members.
- The report put 500 tons at about $65 billion of gold at roughly $4,050 an ounce.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore opened a national currency vault with room for 500 tons of bullion to foreign central banks, international financial institutions and sovereign entities on November 10, 2026, according to the report. The authority will also open gold custody accounts for selected Singapore-based bullion banks so the metal can be put to work.
Deputy Prime Minister and MAS chairman Gan Kim Yong said some central banks have expressed interest but would not name them because the talks are confidential. Gan said developing the gold market is an extension of Singapore's role as a trusted financial centre, and that Singapore has no intention of replacing existing gold centers.
From April 2027, tax relief on gold is extended to wholesale services between institutions: vaulting, refining, recasting, assaying and broking. An SGX over-the-counter clearing system is due by year-end, with DBS, Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard, JPMorgan, OCBC and UOB as clearing members. Live trading is expected by March 2027 and deliverable kilobar futures in the second quarter.
The report put the vault's 500 tons at about $65 billion of gold at roughly $4,050 an ounce, which it calculated as some six months of global central bank buying at the pace Goldman estimates. The World Gold Council's Shaokai Fan told CNBC a move like this is rare in the central banking world, according to the report.
The report said private gold holdings in Singapore topped 800 tons last year, citing estimates from bullion dealer J. Rotbart & Co. cited by Bloomberg, with most of the increase coming from Europe. J. Rotbart said web inquiries from Western clients have tripled in a year, led by the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Indigo Precious Metals said demand from European and American high-net-worth clients is up about 25%, and Gauld said about 40% of its European clients have moved some gold from Switzerland to Singapore or picked Singapore for new purchases.