Singapore is a centre for family offices in Asia. The articles collected here explain the fund incentive schemes, the variable capital company, the licensing exemption, the tax incentive conditions, the case of August 2023 and the tightening of practice, and the Global Investor Programme. The book states the law at 30 June 2026, and the changes from 1 August 2026 are summarised below.
A single family office in Singapore manages the assets of one family. A fund entity, usually a company or a VCC, holds the investments and receives the exemption under section 13O or 13U, and a management entity employs the staff. More than 2,000 single family offices held these incentives at the end of 2025. MAS counts only recipients, so the total number is unknown.
For new awards from 1 August 2026, section 13O and 13OA funds need S$20 million in designated investments and section 13U funds S$50 million, with two and three qualifying investment professionals. Local business spending starts at S$200,000 a year, and the lower of 10 per cent of assets or S$10 million must be deployed in the qualifying options (MAS circular of 31 July 2026).
Since 15 June 2026 a class exemption has freed single family offices from licensing, without approval but with a notice to MAS within 14 days. Existing offices have until 15 June 2027.
Governance and succession matter as much as tax, and the case of August 2023 has made banks and regulators look harder at who stands behind a family office.
Start with the Singapore family office model, the tax incentive conditions or the August 2023 case and the tightening of practice.
Family Offices: Sections 13O and 13U and the Single Family Office
At the end of 2020, about 400 single family offices in Singapore held a tax incentive granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementThe rise of the single family office
MAS describes a single family office as an entity that manages wealth for, or on behalf of, one family and is wholly owned or controlled by members of that family. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementThe tax incentive schemes and their conditions
Singapore’s tax incentives for funds form a family of four schemes under the Income Tax Act 1947. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementLicensing exemptions and supervisory expectations
Fund management is a regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act 2001, for which a capital markets services licence is normally required. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementSubstance, local spending and investment requirements
The headcount condition is the clearest expression of the demand for substance. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementScrutiny after 2023
On 15 August 2023 the police arrested ten foreign nationals in coordinated raids. The assets eventually seized, frozen or subject to prohibition of disposal orders amounted to about S$3 billion. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementPractical consequences for families and their advisers
The choice between section 13O, section 13OA and section 13U follows from the size of the assets and the existing structure. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementFamily Offices: Sections 13O and 13U and the Single Family Office: Comparison with Geneva and Hong Kong
The Geneva volume described a city where family offices grew out of the private banking tradition, without any special tax regime. Read more Singapore · Wealth ManagementFamily Offices: Sections 13O and 13U and the Single Family Office: summary
Single family offices with Singapore tax incentives multiplied from about 400 at the end of 2020 to more than 2,000 at the end of 2024, drawn by stability, the common law, a deep private banking… Read more Singapore · TaxWhy the fund incentives matter for digital assets
Singapore's fund industry rests on three statutory exemptions. Read more Singapore · TaxThe three schemes
Section 13D exempts a non-resident fund that has no presence in Singapore other than its Singapore fund manager. Read more Singapore · TaxDesignated investments and the token problem
The exemption covers only specified income from designated investments. The designated investments list is set out in the regulations and expanded by successive circulars. Read more Singapore · TaxThe variable capital company
The Variable Capital Companies Act 2018 came into force on 14 January 2020 and gave Singapore a fund vehicle built for the purpose. Read more Singapore · TaxFund manager licensing and taxation
A fund manager in Singapore must hold a capital markets services licence for fund management under the Securities and Futures Act 2001 or qualify for an exemption. Read more Singapore · TaxThe Swiss manager with a Singapore fund
A Swiss portfolio manager or manager of collective assets licensed under the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA; FINIG) who wishes to manage a Singapore fund has three routes. Read more Singapore · TaxThe Singapore manager with a Swiss L-QIF
The reverse case has become possible since 1 March 2024, when the limited qualified investor fund (L-QIF) was introduced into the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA; KAG). Read more Singapore · TaxChoosing between a Singapore fund and a Swiss fund
The decision depends on investors, strategy and the token problem described above. The following table summarises the points that decide most mandates. Read more Singapore · TaxThe Singapore family office model
A single family office in Singapore is a company that manages the assets of one family and nothing else. The structure that MAS and IRAS have in mind has two layers. Read more Singapore · TaxThe licensing exemption and the 2023 class exemption proposal
A family office that manages only the assets of a single family does not need a capital markets services licence. Read more Singapore · TaxThe tax incentive conditions for single family offices
Single family office funds obtain their exemption under section 13O or 13U, but the conditions are stricter than for commercial funds and have been tightened twice. Read more Singapore · TaxCrypto in the family office's asset mix
The designated investments problem of Chapter IV strikes a crypto family office harder than a commercial fund, because the family's wealth often consists largely of the tokens that made it. Read more Singapore · TaxThe August 2023 case and the tightening of practice
In August 2023 the Singapore Police Force arrested ten foreign nationals and seized or froze assets eventually valued at more than S$ 3 billion in what became the largest money-laundering case in… Read more Singapore · TaxThe Global Investor Programme
The Global Investor Programme, administered by the Economic Development Board, grants permanent residence to investors who commit capital to Singapore. Read more Singapore · TaxThe comparison with Zug lump-sum taxation
The Singapore family office is often weighed against the Swiss lump-sum regime described in Part G, Chapter VI, although the two instruments are built on different logics. Read more