Safe Haven: Capital Inflows, Wealth Migration and Their Politics: summary

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Singapore attracts wealth because it combines political stability, the rule of law, a strong currency, an AAA rating and a deep financial ecosystem, and by the end of 2025 assets under management had reached S$6.7 trillion, three quarters of them from outside the country. Wealthy foreigners obtain residence through employment, the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass and the Global Investor Programme, whose thresholds were raised sharply in March 2023, all within a population policy that admits a carefully controlled number of new permanent residents and citizens each year. Property is the most sensitive meeting point between foreign wealth and Singaporean society, which explains why the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty for foreigners rose in stages from 15 per cent in 2013 to 60 per cent in April 2023, accompanied by higher taxes on top incomes and expensive homes. The money laundering case of August 2023, with more than S$3 billion of assets seized, showed that the inflow of wealthy people can carry illicit funds and led to reforms aimed at gatekeepers, company structures, work passes and family offices. Singapore balances openness and integrity through price, quantity, conditions and scrutiny, a strategy that resembles Geneva’s long experience as a haven for wealth while relying more on administrative discretion and less on codified procedures for the restitution of illicit assets.

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

All Singapore law advice is provided through KGP Legal LLC, an established and duly licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors.

KGP Legal LLC is a medium-sized law firm in Singapore that is capable of providing the full range of legal services and corporate administration work. Please contact me directly at [email protected] if you need any further information.

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SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

If you are planning a company incorporation, an investment, a holding structure or a market entry through Singapore, you can reach Dr Ressos directly at [email protected]. Singapore law advice is provided by KGP Legal LLC, a licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors. As a Singapore law practice, KGP Legal LLC is authorised under the Legal Profession Act 1966 to advise on Singapore law and to represent clients before the Singapore courts; foreign law practices with an office in Singapore are, as a rule, not permitted to do either. Dr Ressos and his team facilitate the full range of Singapore legal, compliance and company administration services, including company incorporation, corporate transactions, commercial contracts, crypto and digital assets, financial regulatory work and dispute resolution, including litigation in the Singapore courts. For legal, tax and fiduciary services in Switzerland, see helveticaregister.com.