“In order for us to provide a full suite of services, we need to operate as a bank” in Singapore, said Goh, who is also chief strategy officer. After the company becomes a full bank in Switzerland, a transition expected this year, it will be able to apply for a traditional banking licence in the city-state, said Goh.
(Aug 28): Cryptocurrency-related financial services are hard to find in Singapore, as digital assets are a market traditional lenders have tended to avoid. Sygnum, one of the first crypto companies to obtain a conditional banking and securities dealer licence from Swiss regulators, is hoping to fill that gap.
Sygnum, which is based in both Switzerland and Singapore, now plans to apply for a banking licence in the island nation. It has started talking with regulators and petitioned for a capital markets services licence, which will allow the firm to offer asset-management business as a first step into financial services, co-founders Mathias Imbach and Gerald Goh said in a phone interview Tuesday.
