Key facts
- MAS said the national currency vault can store up to 500 tonnes of gold, with room to expand as demand grows.
- MAS said gold custody accounts will be offered to a select group of Singapore-based bullion banks it did not name.
- MAS and the Ministry of Finance extended the GST waiver to specified wholesale services including vaulting, refining, assaying and broking.
- Deputy Prime Minister and MAS chairman Gan Kim Yong said some foreign central banks had expressed interest, without naming them.
- Six banks, including DBS Bank, JPMorgan and UOB, were selected as clearing members for the SGX gold clearing system.
- SGX Group and the six clearing banks are working to complete preparations for the clearing system by end-2026.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a central bank gold vaulting service on November 10, 2026, offering foreign central banks, international financial institutions and sovereign entities a secure option to hold gold reserves in Singapore. MAS said the gold will be stored in Singapore's national currency vault, which can hold up to 500 tonnes with room to expand as demand grows.
MAS said it will also offer gold custody accounts to a select group of Singapore-based bullion banks with expertise in gold-related services and trading liquidity for those institutions. It did not name the banks.
Deputy Prime Minister and MAS chairman Gan Kim Yong, speaking to media at the MAS Building on November 10, said some foreign central banks had already expressed interest in the service but did not name them because discussions were confidential. Asked what differentiates Singapore from Hong Kong, which has also stepped up gold-market initiatives, Gan said "it's not a zero-sum game" and that Singapore offers an additional option for central banks seeking alternative venues.
Separately, MAS and the Ministry of Finance announced an enhanced Goods and Services Tax framework for wholesale investment precious metal gold activities. It extends the GST waiver to specified wholesale services between institutional participants, such as vaulting, refining or recasting, assaying and broking. The framework is expected to take effect from April 2027, with further details to be announced at Budget 2027.
MAS said industry testing of SGX Group's over-the-counter gold clearing system has been completed and the rulebook will be finalised soon. SGX and six founding clearing banks, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan, OCBC Bank and UOB, are working to complete preparations by end-2026, with live trading and market operations expected to start in the first quarter of 2027. SGX's physically deliverable Gold Kilobar Futures is targeted for launch in the second quarter of 2027.
Shaokai Fan, head of Asia-Pacific excluding China and global head of central banks at the World Gold Council, told The Straits Times that other official-sector vault providers are in Western Europe or North America, making the Singapore offering unique in a new time zone and jurisdiction.