As a leading financial hub in Asia, Singapore benefits from government policies that position the country as a city open to trade while attracting foreign direct investment inflows and that welcomes overseas businesses to set up shop on its shores. This has cemented Singapore’s position as one of Asia’s top financial hubs, with many multinational […]

Singapore As The Next Destination For Family Empires  With the establishment of a successful business empire, ultra-high net worth families often rightly focus on attaining stability as their next priority. The heads of these families want to ensure that their hard-earned wealth is preserved for their future generations’ continued advancement and prosperity. For the well-advised, […]

Wealthy families seeking to move to Singapore have a clear path forward to permanent residency (“PR”) through the Global Investor Programme. The programme was launched in 2004 by the Singapore Economic Development Board (“EDB”) to draw successful entrepreneurs and families to the city-state. It enables applicants to obtain PR status, with the rights to live […]

Introduction On 18 April 2022, Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) unveiled new rulings which came into effect setting minimum requirements for capital or asset-under-management (“AUM”), local business expenditure, local investments and the hiring of investment professionals (“IP”) for the establishment of Single Family Offices (“SFO”) in Singapore. Many believe that the new tax exemption measures […]

  Singapore has become a favoured destination for high-net-worth families to set up Single Family Offices (SFO). Statistics show that as of 2020, there were more than 400 hundred family offices set up in Singapore. Unsurprisingly, this area has garnered attention and MAS has issued new regulations that kicked in on 18 April 2022. By […]

What is a Re-Entry Permit? Singapore Permanent Residency (“PR”) brings about a myriad of benefits well-known to those who have been residing long-term in Singapore under Employment Passes or have already sought to secure long-term residency rights in the city under other investment schemes. However, unlike the name suggests, obtaining PR does not guarantee long-term […]

Introduction In our February 2022 newsletter, we elaborated on the launch of the Global-Asia Family Office Circle (“GFO Circle”) and how this new ecosystem for family offices in Singapore will allow new set-ups to grow and mature. In this month’s writeup, we will explore the conditions and advantages of setting up a Single-Family Office (SFO) […]

Introduction In this month’s IMG newsletter, we would like to discuss the launch of the Global-Asia Family Office Circle (“GFO Circle”), a network to support the growth of family offices in Singapore. Aligned with our aspirations for a prosperous Chinese New Year, the GFO circle represents a platform for family office players to collaborate, share […]

Singapore has been one of the most popular immigration destinations especially in recent years. Regardless of either the business or career front, its openness to global talent has allowed Singapore to build up one of the world’s best local talent pools, which in turn attracts even more global talent, entrepreneurs and investors moving into Singapore. […]

As we approach the two-year mark of the ongoing pandemic, it is clear that there has been a marked shift in the strategies of wealthy families. Spurred by changing priorities and socio-economic landscapes, families are even more motivated to ensure security and freedom of movement for their generation and the next. This article will discuss […]

The number of family offices in Singapore has been growing strongly in numbers and sophistication over the last few years. On one hand, the political and social uncertainties created by the political tensions in some parts of the world as well as the risks and problems created by the pandemic have led to ultra-high-net-worth individuals […]

Introduction It is known that Singapore has offered routes to permanent residency for foreign investors since the 1970’s. The current incarnation of this is the Global Investor Programme (GIP). Whilst the current GIP’s pre-qualification bar and investment amount has been raised considerably in recent years, here at SMTP we still observe interest and the ongoing […]

On 3 March*, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced that Dependent’s Pass (DP) holders will soon have to se-cure a work pass instead of a letter of consent (LOC) if they wish to work in Singapore. This announcement came as a surprise to many as it requires existing DP holders and employers of these DP holders […]

Introduction A prominent trend that took on a life of its own throughout 2020 was the increasing interest and establishment of family offices in Singapore. It is no secret that our Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has the goal of building Singapore into a bastion for private wealth in Asia, a preferred destination for high […]

Introduction We are in still uncertain, changed times, as a result of the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19. Under our sound leadership and planning, Singapore has been able to emerge relatively unscathed from the worst the pandemic has to offer – as seen in many nations around the world. As our past newsletter ‘Pathways to […]