Singapore has one of the largest and most competitive financial centres, consistently ranking over time in the top 5 global financial centres, together with London, New York, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.
Singapore’s political and financial stability, its intensive commercial activity (Singapore has the second busiest container port worldwide), along with its large investment management industry have made the jurisdiction a top offshore banking destination.
In addition, Singapore is one of the most reputed international financial centres whose banks consistently onboard nonresident companies and individuals, including companies incorporated in offshore jurisdictions.
Singaporean banks are consistently ranked as some of the safest worldwide by industry press, renowned industry magazines and credit rate agencies. Top credit rating agencies generally assign to local Singaporean banks high-rate investment grade.
The largest banks in Singapore are its local banks: DBS, OCBC and UOB. Regional banks such as Bank of China, RHB, Maybank, CIMB, among others, also have a substantial presence in Singapore. A relevant number of large European and American banks also have branches in Singapore, and they are generally focused on wealth management and large corporate banking.
From a corporate banking perspective, local Singaporean banks and regional banks with presence in Singapore focus on transactional banking, cash management services and trade finance. Companies banking in Singapore have access to some of the quickest and most affordable money transfer services.
All such banks offer multi currency accounts with a variety of major currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, AUD, CAD, and also Renminbi. Their top correspondent banking connections and their overseas branches facilitate international transactions in foreign currency in a seamless manner. Short-term fixed deposits and short-term government and bank securities are also generally offered by most banks to corporate customers to obtain returns from excess cash held.
International wholesale trading businesses have access to trade finance services such as letters of credit and bank guarantees, among other products, to cover risks such as currency fluctuations, non-payment or the creditworthiness of counterparties.
Singaporean banks also have a great understanding of online businesses. For instance, for Singaporean e-commerce businesses, a broad range of merchant accounts and credit card processing services are available.
From a personal and private banking perspective, Singaporean banks offer wealth management services to nonresidents with a relatively low financial relationship requirements (e.g. SGD 200,000) - including access to a broad range of stock markets, investment funds, government and corporate bonds and other securities such as foreign currency contracts, among others, through modern online platforms. Roboadvisory and discretionary management are also available.
An oasis of financial stability, together with a broad range of banking services and some of the most technologically advanced banking facilities worldwide, makes Singapore the leading Asia-Pacific destination for both, transactional banking, financing and wealth management services.
We work with 9 different banks in Singapore, each bank has different eligibility requirements, types of accounts available and onboarding processes.
We invite you to carefully review each banks requirements and services to better understand if their banking services meet your needs.
The Republic of Singapore, also known as Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is an island city-state of Asia, made up of the main island and other sixty-two islets, and founding member of the ASEAN.
It is located to the south of the State of Johor in the peninsula of Malaysia and to the north of the islands Riau of Indonesia, separated of these by Strait of Singapore. Its population is about 5.5 million, of which about 75 percent are Chinese, and the rest are Malay, Indian or Eurasian minorities. This multiculturalism diversity is reflected in the four official languages of the country, English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. Its official currency is the Singapore Dollar (SGD), which is also accepted as customary tender in Brunei. Alike, the Brunei Dollar (BND) is customarily accepted in Singapore.
Singapore is a unitary multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government.
Singapore is one of the main global cities and one of the hubs of world trade, third-largest oil refining and trading center, third largest financial center and one of the largest freight port worldwide. Singapore is the third country with the highest per capita income worldwide, in terms of purchasing power parity, as well as being among the first countries on the international lists of education, with one of the highest skilled workforce worldwide, health, political transparency, and economic competitiveness.
Its globalized and diversified economy depends especially on international trade, refining imported raw goods to re export, and an export-oriented manufacturing sector, mainly chemistry, oil refining, being one of the top three export refining centers in the world, mechanical engineering, biotechnology, and biomedical sciences. Singapore has one of the seaports that handles the largest annual cargo volume worldwide, both in tonnage and in the number of containers.
The country is also an important international financial hub, leading world’s private banking sector, offering top-notch corporate banking facilities and a broad range of banking services, investment funds, and insurance services, among others. It also has the fourth largest currency exchange and capital market worldwide, behind New York, London, and Tokyo.
All supported by an investor and entrepreneurship-friendly tax policy. With a territorial tax system, a low tax burden and the availability of several tax breaks and incentives for startups and technological innovation.
Singapore welcomes thousands of foreign investors, expats entrepreneurs and multinational companies’ employees. Singapore’s immigration policy is geared towards attracting foreign talent, with several visa schemes to attract high-skilled foreign employees, entrepreneurs and investors.
Our banking support service is not just a mere introduction to the bank. We assist you in filling out the business questionnaires appropriately and help you understand and provide business details, commercial information and purpose/use of the bank account that a given bank wants to know in order to approve your account application. Banks want certainty and clarity on how the account will be used. Everything must be watertight. We will work with you to make sure there is minimal 'back and forth' and a smooth account opening process.
Bank Account opening requirements are subject to change at the discretion of the bank. There might be additional fees charged by the bank itself. Bank account opening is not guaranteed and is subject to the bank policies and compliance department. There might be restrictions on UBO nationalities, business activities and/or jurisdictions. A refund is available if the account is not successfully opened subject to our terms of service (20% to partly cover service and payment processing and administrative costs apply).