Singapore unveils plan to become global gold trading hub amid rising investor interest

SINGAPORE — Singapore has set out plans to boost its position as a gold trading centre, as investor interest in storing and trading the precious metal here grows.

These include developing gold-related capital market products to support price discovery and liquidity, establishing internationally aligned standards for vaulting and logistics and building a clearing system to support over-the-counter trades of large gold bars and kilobars.

Large bars refer to 400-troy-ounce, or about 12.4kg, gold bars, the standard for institutional trading and settlement in London. The kilobar, or 1kg bar, is the preferred standard in Asian markets and is also accepted for delivery in Comex (Commodity Exchange) gold futures contracts in the United States.

The plans were outlined by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) on March 27, following consultations with industry players under a working group formed in January.

The group includes DBS Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, UBS, UOB, Singapore Exchange (SGX) Group and the World Gold Council.

It also comprises trading houses StoneX APAC and YLG Bullion Singapore, as well as refinery Metalor Technologies Singapore.

MAS also said it is studying the provision of vaulting services for foreign central banks and sovereign entities. The Straits Times understands that such gold will be stored in MAS' own vault.

The central bank also named three other vault operators - Brink's Global Services, Loomis International (SG) and Malca-Amit Singapore.

ST understands they will primarily handle commercial demand, including custody for capital market products offering fractional exposure to investors, similar to the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold ETF, which debuted on the SGX on March 26.

The push comes as Singapore seeks to position itself as a trusted hub for gold trading in Asia, alongside other centres in the region such as Dubai, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

In January, Hong Kong struck a deal with the Shanghai Gold Exchange to launch a central gold clearing system and expand warehousing capacity to boost its gold market.

The agreement formalises the governance of the Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing Company, which is set to begin trial operations in 2026.

@asiaone National Development Chee Hong Tat, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said on Friday (March 27) that Singapore is creating an ecosystem for gold trading activity based here. He added that the aim is to bring more gold and high-value activity into Singapore and creating jobs. #sgnews #Singapore #Asia #Gold #Jobs ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

At a media briefing on March 27, MAS deputy chairman Chee Hong Tat said Singapore is "quite used" to competition in the financial services industry, when asked about Hong Kong's efforts to strengthen its gold market.

"I think the space is big enough for us to coexist and for both cities to grow our respective services," he said.

"Of course, we also know that there are very well-established gold trading hubs in other parts of the world, in London and Switzerland... So we will certainly learn from what these jurisdictions have done, and what are some of the capabilities that we will also need to develop here in Singapore."

Chee, who is also Minister for National Development, added that a more turbulent global environment has led central banks, corporations and investors to view gold as a hedge against uncertainty.

He also noted that while gold prices have fallen in recent weeks, the MAS is not "placing bets" on short-term price movements.

"What we're doing is to create an ecosystem that enables gold trading activities based out of Singapore... The way I can describe it is planting trees in an ecosystem, and you need to ensure that the ecosystem as a whole is attractive," said Chee.

"So this is planting, not punting," he added.

MAS said the working group will flesh out implementation details over the coming months, with updates expected through 2026.

The measures are also expected to create jobs across vaulting and logistics, trading and relationship management, as well as research and analysis.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.