Singapore launches central bank gold custody service with capacity of up to 500 tonnes
Key Facts
The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched a gold custody service on November 10, 2026, aimed at foreign central banks, international financial institutions and sovereign entities, adding a new institutional option for bullion storage in Asia. The authority said in a statement that gold will be held in the national currency vault, which can accommodate up to 500 tonnes. Capacity can be expanded if demand rises, according to the statement. The service complements existing commercial storage capacity in Singapore rather than replacing it. The move is part of a broader package to develop gold activities, including storage, tax services and settlement infrastructure.
Singapore’s commercial gold vault capacity exceeds 2,000 tonnes and is intended to serve bullion banks, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, The Straits Times reported. This commercial capacity, together with the national vault launched by the authority, places the new service within an established storage ecosystem in the country. The new service targets a specific official and institutional segment that includes foreign central banks and sovereign entities. The newspaper reported that some foreign central banks had expressed interest. But Gan Kim Yong did not identify the institutions, saying the discussions were confidential. The Monetary Authority did not announce any agreements or specific clients when the service was launched.
The service includes gold deposits, storage, book-entry transfers and withdrawals, while market transactions remain separate from custody. The Monetary Authority’s frequently asked questions explain that gold sales, purchases, swaps and other services are conducted between clients and counterparties they select from bullion banks. The authority’s role is therefore limited to holding the metal and does not include executing clients’ trades or providing trading services to them. Specific bars are allocated to each client, with each bar separately identified and recorded. The service also requires bars to meet the London Bullion Market Association’s Good Delivery standards. These requirements link custody to the identification and tracking of bars, while leaving commercial dealings to the banks selected by clients.
The custody service is accompanied by tax changes targeting specified wholesale services among institutional participants, rather than a general exemption for gold trading. Services that will be covered by the extension of the goods and services tax exemption include storage, refining, recasting, assaying and broking. The Monetary Authority said the new framework is expected to take effect in April 2027. Further details are due to be announced in the 2027 Budget. This means the scope of the exemption and its detailed application will be set before it takes effect. The authority is positioning the tax change alongside the new service as part of efforts to develop wholesale gold activities in Singapore.
The plan to develop the sector dates back to joint work by the Monetary Authority and the Singapore Bullion Market Association, whose group was established in January 2026 after discussions and studies with industry participants during 2025. In March 2026, the two sides set priorities to strengthen Singapore’s position as a trusted gold-trading hub, in response to growing interest in storage and trading there. Gan said in June that Asia accounts for about 70% of annual consumer demand for gold, while liquidity, trading and price discovery are concentrated in established centers such as London and New York. He described Singapore as a complementary node linking regional demand with global liquidity and supporting activity during Asian trading hours. In the same speech, he said the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold Fund, which invests in gold stored in Singapore, had attracted assets of more than 600 million Singapore dollars since its launch in November 2025. These initiatives show the plan’s widening scope, from bullion custody to building services and products linked to the gold market.
Next steps include developing clearing infrastructure and launching physically deliverable contracts. The Monetary Authority said in June that the Singapore Exchange would establish an over-the-counter gold clearing system in the Loco Singapore market by the end of 2026, with interbank trading expected to expand from 2027. It announced then that six bullion banks would participate as clearing members: DBS, Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, J.P. Morgan, OCBC and UOB. By the November 10 statement, industry testing of the clearing system had been completed, with trading and market operations expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027. The Singapore Exchange also aims to launch physically deliverable Gold Kilobar Futures in the second quarter of 2027. The timeline puts the launch of the clearing market first, followed by physically deliverable futures in the next quarter.