Singapore's banks serve companies and families from across Asia and well beyond. Find out what a Singapore bank will ask of your company, how trade has been financed through the port, and how to prepare an application that a bank can accept.
The MAS directory read on 4 November 2026 lists licences for 6 local banks, 10 qualifying full banks, 20 full banks, 96 wholesale banks and 21 merchant banks. These are counts of licences, and one bank may hold several.
The money-laundering case of August 2023 changed the tone of the questions (Why one case has its own chapter). A structure chart down to the natural persons, evidence of the source of wealth and contracts showing where the money comes from will shorten the conversation. Digital-asset businesses should read Opening an account in Singapore and What a bank wants to see over time.
Banks apply the MAS notices issued under the sectoral Acts and the reporting duty in section 45 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 (The statutory duty). Singapore implements United Nations sanctions and, since March 2022, its own measures against Russia. Its banks also take account of other sanctions regimes in their commercial practice (OFAC and the commercial reality).
Credit has been part of the port since the agency houses of the nineteenth century, which sold on credit of three to six months down a chain of dealers. The history is told in The agency house as intermediary and Credit chains between Europe, India, China and the archipelago.
Banking and Wealth Management
Singapore manages S$6.7 trillion in assets, most of them from abroad. The articles collected here explain how a bank approaches a new client, how a treasury is kept and off-ramped, and how a family holds wealth through a fund, a trust or a family office. They also show where the business began, in the credit networks and remittance houses of the nineteenth century. Part E of the financial centre book, on wealth management and private banking, is still to come. To the articlesBankability and Onboarding
Opening and keeping a bank account in Singapore requires preparation. The articles collected here explain why the account is the bottleneck for many businesses, how account opening works in Singapore and in Switzerland, which banks engage with digital-asset clients, how a treasury is off-ramped and what a bank wants to see as the relationship goes on. The cases come from digital-asset businesses, the most closely examined applicants, and the lessons on documents and substance carry over to other companies. To the articlesTrade Finance
Trade finance is the oldest financial business of the port. The articles collected here explain how the agency houses of the nineteenth century discounted bills, how credit ran from Lancashire through Singapore to the archipelago, how the planters of gambier and pepper were financed, and how the river and the godowns supported it. Part H of the book, on trade finance, fraud and risk today, is still to come. To the articlesCommodity Trading
Singapore was founded as a trading port. The articles collected here follow the entrepôt economy of the nineteenth century: the junk trade from the southern Chinese ports, Bugis, Arab, Indian and European traders, country traders and the opium economy, gambier and pepper, the agency house as intermediary, and the credit chains that held it all together. They also compare the entrepôt with Geneva. Part G of the book, on the commodity trading hub of today, is still to come. To the articlesRegulation and Supervision
Financial regulation in Singapore is concentrated in one institution. The articles collected here explain the Westminster model in a city-state, the sources of law, the legal force of MAS notices, guidelines and FAQs, MAS's mandate and philosophy, the licensing categories, the Payment Services Act 2019, the Securities and Futures Act 2001, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022, stablecoins, tokenisation and the steps of a licence application. The colonial origins of the legal order are told in the financial centre book. To the articlesAML and Compliance
Singapore applies a broad regime against money laundering and terrorist financing. The articles collected here explain the three statutes on which it rests, the MAS notices, the enterprise-wide risk assessment, customer due diligence, the travel rule and the duty to report suspicious transactions. They also cover the money-laundering case of August 2023, sanctions, governance and inspections, and the running of one programme across a group. The examples come from digital payment token services, and much of the framework applies to financial institutions generally. To the articlesSingapore: Origins: From Temasek to the Free Port
Origins: From Temasek to the Free Port — a part of the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos. To the articles