Sygnum gets green light to operate in Singapore

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 says 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.

Sygnum 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”.

SEBA 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.