Singapore is taking steps to develop itself as an Asia-Pacific gold trading centre via a Gold Market Development Working Group led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA).
In a joint statement released on March 27, the MAS and SBMA said the working group was established in January and its focus areas were shaped by detailed discussions and studies it conducted with industry participants in 2025.
“We are working closely with the industry to see how we can position Singapore as a gold trading hub in Asia,” deputy chairman of the MAS Chee Hong Tat told reporters in a doorstop interview on the same day.
Chee is also National Development Minister and chairs a separate working group focused on developing Singapore’s growth capital ecosystem.
Positioning Singapore as a regional gold trading centre builds on Singapore’s reputation as a financial centre, Chee says. “It plays to our strengths, and it adds a new vertical pillar to what we are already offering in terms of wealth management and asset management.”
“In turn, we will be able to create more good jobs for Singaporeans. We will be able to anchor more investment here in Singapore and we will be able to attract more activities to be based off from Singapore,” he adds.
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Working group will strengthen Singapore’s gold ecosystem
According to the MAS and the SBMA, the working group will develop measures to strengthen Singapore’s gold ecosystem based on four key areas.
Firstly, the group will come up with gold-related capital market products to drive price discovery and liquidity.
See also: Gold declines as Trump threatens Iran with military escalation
Secondly, it will develop robust and internationally-aligned standards for vaulting and logistics.
Thirdly, the group will help establish a clearing system to support secure and efficient over-the-counter settlements when large bar and kilobar gold is trading in Singapore.
Large bars of gold, which weigh about 12.4 kilograms, are the preferred standard for institutional trading and settlement in the London market. Kilobar, which has a weight of one kilogram, is the preferred standard in Asian markets and is an accepted delivery contract for COMEX gold futures contracts in the US.
Fourthly, the MAS is looking to offer vaulting services for foreign central banks and sovereign entities to meet potential demand.
“These four areas are important parts of this gold trading hub ecosystem that we hope to develop,” Chee says. “The way in which we want to embark on this review is similar to what we did with the equities market review – we want to work very closely with the industry so that we understand what are some of the industry demand, feedback and potential areas that we can enhance.”
Chee was previously the chair of the Equities Market Review Group. The group was set up by the MAS in August 2024 and was tasked with revitalising Singapore’s stock market. Its final report and recommendations were published in November 2025.
Banks, vault operators, trading houses and retailers involved
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The working group is co-chaired by the MAS and SBMA and comprises members from DBS Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, UBS AG, United Overseas Bank, Singapore Exchange Group, and the World Gold Council.
“UBS is happy to collaborate with MAS and market participants to develop Singapore as a key regional gold centre," says Eric Li, UBS's global head of FX trading and head of global markets, Asean. "Through our global connectivity, we aim to better support our clients' demand and provide greater liquidity across time zones."
The group is also supported by technical workstreams to study policy enablers and supportive measures. Participation organisations include vault operators (Brink's Global Services, Loomis International (SG) and Malca-Amit Singapore), trading houses (StoneX APAC and YLG Bullion Singapore), retailers (Silver Bullion and The Singapore Mint), precious metals refinery Metalor Technologies (Singapore) and Enterprise Singapore.
The group will be fleshing out the details for the different measures under each of the focus areas in the next few months. Periodic updates on the implementation of these measures will be provided by the group over the course of 2026.
Chee: Gold push is about planting, not punting
Singapore’s push to become a gold hub is taking place amid a decline in gold prices. The price of gold has fallen by more than 15% since the US and Israel launched a joint military strike on Iran. Spot gold prices have fallen to around US$4,430 ($5,694) an ounce, far below US$5,000 level it was at earlier this year.
Falling gold prices will not halt Singapore’s ambitions to become a regional gold hub, says Chee. “When it comes to investments, there will be ups and downs. If you look at what we are doing, we are not placing bets on whether the prices in the short term will go up or go down. What we are doing is to create the ecosystem for gold trading activity to based out of Singapore.”
“The way I'll describe it is, we are planting trees in an ecosystem,” Chee adds. “So this is planting, not punting. We're not making bets.”
