Singapore unveiled plans on Friday to position itself as a leading gold trading hub for Asia, with regulators and industry stakeholders collaborating to enhance the market’s trading, clearing, and storage infrastructure.
The initiative comes amid rising competition among Asian financial centres to capture more bullion flows. Hong Kong, for example, is also expanding its gold market links with Shanghai.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) outlined four key focus areas for the development of the gold trading ecosystem. These include broadening gold-related capital market products, establishing a trusted clearing and settlement system, strengthening vaulting and logistics standards, and studying vaulting services for foreign central banks and sovereign entities.
“We are not placing bets on whether the prices in the short term will go up or go down,” said Chee Hong Tat, Singapore’s Minister for National Development and MAS Deputy Chairman. “What we are doing is to create the ecosystem for gold trading activity based out of Singapore.”
Chee explained that the plan was shaped by industry feedback and aims to attract more gold-related transactions and high-value activity to Singapore, while also creating jobs.
The working group, established in January, includes major banks and financial institutions such as DBS Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan, UBS, UOB, the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and the World Gold Council.
In February, the group began exploring physical gold custody solutions for institutional and high-net-worth clients, a move aimed at bolstering Singapore’s role as a trusted bullion centre.
Despite a recent dip in gold prices triggered by a stronger dollar, higher oil prices, and concerns that interest rates may remain elevated due to the conflict in the Middle East, demand for gold has remained robust, underscoring the potential for growth in Singapore’s gold trading sector.
