Talent: Education, Immigration and the Financial Workforce: summary

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Singapore has built its financial workforce through three public research universities: the National University of Singapore with roots in 1905, Nanyang Technological University with roots in the Chinese-language Nanyang University of 1955, and the Singapore Management University founded in 2000 on the model of the Wharton School. Foreign professionals enter mainly on the Employment Pass, which combines a minimum qualifying salary, set higher for financial services at S$6,200 a month in 2026 and S$6,600 from 2027, with the COMPASS points test that rewards diversity of nationalities and a strong share of local staff. About 204,000 Employment Pass holders worked in Singapore in mid-2026, a number that has remained stable while the political debate over foreign talent, sharpened by the elections of 2011 and the White Paper of 2013, led the government to tighten the rules and to plan for a Singaporean core in finance. The Institute of Banking and Finance, founded in 1974, accredits the training that more than 76,000 people took in 2025, while MAS Notice FAA-N26 sets entry, examination and annual continuing education requirements for representatives, with the industry’s own competency standards added for private bankers. Singapore ranked first in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2025 ahead of Switzerland, although its selective pass system, high costs and lack of a hinterland distinguish it from Hong Kong’s volume-based Top Talent Pass Scheme and from Geneva’s reliance on cross-border workers under free movement.

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. 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.