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.
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. Each bank decides on its own risk appetite whether to accept a client.
According to the Digital Assets book, MAS has said that it does not direct banks to refuse the digital-asset sector and expects them to assess each client on its merits. Since the collapses of 2022 the banks' assessment of that sector has nevertheless been among the most conservative of any financial centre.
An application is easier to assess when the structure is simple, the business plan is plausible and the beneficial owners are identified with clear documents. A licence or an in-principle approval from MAS helps a digital-asset business.
The relationship does not end with the account opening. Transactions are monitored against what you told the bank, so tell the bank when your business changes.
The articles explain the bottleneck and how to get through it. Start with opening an account in Singapore, the bottleneck or what a bank wants to see over time.
The bottleneck
Every structure in this Part fails without a bank account. The Zug GmbH cannot be registered until its capital is deposited at a Swiss bank. The Singapore Pte. Read more Singapore · StructuringOpening an account in Switzerland
Swiss banks distinguish two kinds of digital-asset client. Read more Singapore · StructuringOpening an account in Singapore
Singapore's three local banks (DBS, OCBC, UOB) and the licensed foreign banks apply a sector risk assessment to digital-asset businesses that has, since the 2022 collapses, been among the most… Read more Singapore · StructuringThe banks that say yes
The institutions below were, to my knowledge, open to digital-asset businesses or to private clients with digital-asset wealth on 30 June 2026. Read more Singapore · StructuringOff-ramping a treasury
A protocol treasury that needs fiat for salaries, rent and taxes has to convert tokens. Four routes exist. The first is sale on a centralised exchange and withdrawal to the entity's bank account. Read more Singapore · StructuringStablecoin treasury management
Many groups keep part of their treasury in stablecoins because they avoid the volatility of their own token and the friction of fiat. Read more Singapore · StructuringPayments and payroll in tokens
Paying staff and contractors in tokens is lawful in both hubs within limits. Read more Singapore · StructuringWhat a bank wants to see over time
An account that is opened can be closed. Banks in both hubs review digital-asset clients annually and close relationships that have drifted from the business described at opening. Read more