Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Sygnum gets green light to operate in Singapore

Singapore skyline by night
Singapore is attracting a growing number of Swiss crypto companies. Keystone / Lynn Bo Bo

Swiss crypto bank Sygnum has been awarded a capital markets services licence in Singapore, paving the way for it to provide asset management services in the Asian city-state. Sygnum received a Swiss banking license in August, at the same time as its competitor SEBA.

On Thursday, Sygnum was given the green light by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to commence operations. The bank saysExternal link its first Singapore product will be a multi-manager fund.

The new generation banking enterprise is part of a first wave of financial institutions dealing with crypto assets using distributed ledger technology. It will trade in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, plus an expected flurry of new digital assets mirroring company shares and other financial products.

SygnumExternal link has also teamed up with Germany’s largest stock exchange, the partially state-owned Swiss telecoms company Swisscom and other partners to build a new trading venue for digital assets.

The bank is one of a growing number of Swiss crypto companies to also set up in Singapore. The two countries already have close financial ties, sparked by the rise of Swiss-led private banking in Singapore. The financial regulators in both countries are also in close contact on the theme of digital assets – also known as the “token economy”.

SEBAExternal link says it is in talks with MAS but has not yet formally applied for a license. The Zug-based enterprise says it is concentrating on a full-scale live launch in Switzerland, starting next month, before moving on to other markets.

The bank then aims to roll out services in a range of other markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, Britain, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands.


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Mark Thomson to become CERN's new General Manager from 2026

More

CERN selects new director-general

This content was published on The CERN Council has chosen British physicist Mark Thomson as the organisation's next director-general.

Read more: CERN selects new director-general

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR