Registration or Licensing of Family Offices in Singapore

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Prime Minister with regard to the increase in the number of Family Offices (FO) being set up in Singapore (a) whether the Government will consider requiring the registration or licensing for all FOs, including Single Family Offices; and (b) whether the Government has data on the areas that FOs in Singapore typically invest in.

Family offices can be either multi-family offices (MFOs) that manage third party assets of two or more families, or single family offices (SFOs) that manage assets belonging to only one family. MFOs are subject to licensing and regulation under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), which provides safeguards to protect the interests of the different families served by the MFO. As SFOs manage the monies of a single family, they are not subject to licensing and regulation under the SFA. There are no plans to review the current licensing and regulatory approach for SFOs, which is also similar to that in other major jurisdictions.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) does not have comprehensive data on the areas that family offices in Singapore invest in. Investments typically span a globally diversified portfolio of assets including commodities, equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, insurance, structured products, private equity and venture capital.

There is also increasing interest from SFOs in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) -related investments, private equity and venture capital investments which supports local and regional startups, and philanthropic and impact investments in Singapore and the region. Local investments by SFOs in Singapore could also increase as more SFOs set up here.1