Wealthy investors looking to establish a family office in Singapore will now face up to an 18-month wait amid stricter regulations.
The Republic, on Oct 3, said that it was looking into single family offices and the roles they played in the $2.8 billion money laundering scandal.
Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Culture, Community and Youth, Alvin Tan, said that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) may be tightening its internal incentive administration where necessary after its review.
According to the central bank, the number of Singapore-registered family offices surged to 1,100 at the end of 2022 from 400 in 2020 and from just 50 in 2018.
MAS, in July, imposed additional restrictions including setting a minimum limit of $20 million in assets under management (AUM). Later in the same month, MAS launched a public consultation on a revised framework to strengthen surveillance and defence against money laundering risks in Singapore’s single-family office sector.
According to the Financial Times’ sources, processing times have slowed as the pace of new registrations slowed down. The higher wait time was attributed to the backlog of current applications as well as stricter criteria from the Singaporean government.
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Due to the longer wait time, the newspaper’s sources say they are now seeing lesser inquiries from wealthy investors looking to set up family offices in the country.
“MAS continues to receive a high volume of applications for tax incentives by single family offices. They are generally processed in nine to 12 months upon submission of complete information and supporting documents that are in good order but may take longer depending on the complexity and merits of each case,” said MAS in response to Financial Times’ queries.
