Singapore MAS Chairman Gan Kim Yong on Family Offices: 2,000+ Single Family Offices Awarded Tax Incentives & Employ 2,200 Singapore Citizens & Permanent Residents 

Date: For Parliament Sitting on 5 February 2025

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim, Sengkang GRC

Question:

To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) over the past four years, how many single family offices (SFOs) that have been set up have been awarded tax incentives; (b) whether MAS has any plans to seek SFO licensing and regulation under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), similar to multi-family offices; and (c) if not, what considerations may lead MAS to decide to do so.

Answer by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of MAS:

1. The number of Single Family Offices (SFOs) awarded tax incentives grew from 400 as at end 2020 to over 2,000 as at end 2024.

2. SFOs manage only the monies of the family and do not serve third-party clients, and thus are not subject to licensing under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA). This is similar to the approach taken by other major jurisdictions. Notwithstanding, as set out in MAS’ response to the consultation paper on “Proposed Framework for Single Family Offices”, MAS will be introducing a licensing class exemption framework for SFOs which will require them to notify MAS of their presence and comply with specific requirements to ensure that all SFOs are subject to anti-money laundering controls.

Date: For Parliament Sitting on 5 February 2025

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim, Sengkang GRC

Question:

To ask the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in view of the four-fold increase in the number of family offices between 2020 and 2024 (a) how many jobs have they created in total; (b) how many more jobs are they expected to create, as a whole, over the next five years; (c) how many jobs are filled by Singapore citizens and permanent residents, as opposed to foreigners; and (d) what is the total tax revenue that these family offices are expected to contribute in the current fiscal year.

Answer by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry, and Chairman of MAS:

1. We will focus on Single Family Offices (SFOs) that have been awarded MAS tax incentives. They have to meet annual requirements on assets under management, headcount, business spending and deployment of funds to specific assets. SFOs contribute to the growth of the asset management industry, and increase demand for ancillary services such as in private banking, legal and tax advisory, accounting and fund administration. SFOs receiving tax incentives currently employ about 2,200 locals.