Impact of China's Offshore Trust Taxation on Singapore's Trust Industry and Common Reporting Standard Exchanges with China

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) what is the MAS's assessment of the impact of China's new tax rules for offshore trusts on Singapore's financial industry and trust industry; and (b) whether Common Reporting Standard (CRS) exchanges with China are confined to financial account information or also capture underlying real estate and immovable property holdings.

My response will cover the question raised by Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Mr Louis Chua in today's Order Paper, as well as the question filed by Mr Yip Hon Weng for 10 September's Sitting. [Please refer to "Effect of China’s Tax Enforcement on Offshore Trusts and Wealth Structures on Singapore's Wealth Management Sector", Official Report, 8 September 2026, Vol 96, Issue 35, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section; and "Impact of China's Offshore Trust Tax Rules on Singapore's Family Office and Trust Management Sector, Ensuring Tax Compliance and Maintaining Legitimate Competitiveness", Official Report, 10 September 2026, Vol 96, Issue 37, Written Answers to Questions section.]

Key banks in the wealth management industry have told the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) that they have not observed significant impact from China's tax rules thus far, and clients are assessing the implications of China's new measures and the steps needed to meet their tax obligations.

Wealth owners choose Singapore for many key reasons, including our high standards of regulation, strong rule of law and comprehensive ecosystem of wealth managers and professional service providers. These wealth owners also come from a diverse range of jurisdictions. Singapore's wealth and broader asset management sector continues to see strong growth, with assets under management rising by 10.1% year on year to $6.7 trillion in 2025.

We make continual efforts to strengthen the value proposition and competitiveness of our financial sector. To better support the family office ecosystem, MAS has recently enhanced the fund tax schemes to provide greater flexibility, reduce compliance costs and expand the types of investments eligible under these schemes. Earlier in the year, we also shared that MAS and the industry were working to make account opening more efficient, and the industry aims to bring the median time needed for account opening down to within one month.

To the question about the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), it has been implemented by over 100 jurisdictions worldwide, including major financial centres. CRS applies to financial account information and not real estate and immovable property holdings.