The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) today set out key focus areas to strengthen Singapore’s position as a trusted gold trading centre serving the Asia-Pacific region. This will meet the growing interest among investors to vault and trade gold in Singapore. The key focus areas were developed by a Gold Market Development Working Group that MAS and SBMA established in January 2026, building on detailed discussions and studies with industry participants in 2025.
2 The working group has identified several focus areas where measures aimed at strengthening Singapore’s gold ecosystem will be developed. These include developing gold-related capital market products to facilitate price discovery and build liquidity, putting in place robust and internationally-aligned standards for vaulting and logistics, and building a clearing system to support secure and efficient over-the-counter settlement for trading large bar and kilobar gold
3 Taken together, these efforts will foster greater market confidence and position Singapore as a trusted and vibrant regional gold centre, complementing other major gold centres. Our goal is to anchor high-value activities here, create good jobs for Singaporeans, enhance the resilience and diversity of Singapore’s financial sector, and benefit market participants in Singapore and the region.
4 The working group comprises key private sector stakeholders that are integral to growing Singapore’s gold market and attracting more investor interest. The working group is co-chaired by MAS and SBMA, and comprises members from DBS Bank, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, UBS AG, United Overseas Bank, SGX Group, and the World Gold Council. The working group is supported by technical workstreams with a broader group of stakeholders including banks, vault operators, a precious metals refinery, and trading houses.
5 The composition of the working group and participating institutions in the technical workstreams is set out in Annex A. Over the next few months, the working group will flesh out details for the different measures under each of the key focus areas set out above and provide periodic updates on implementation over the course of 2026.
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[1] Large bars refer to 400 troy ounce (about 12.4kg) gold bars, which is the preferred standard in the London market for institutional trading and settlement. The kilobar (1kg) is the preferred standard in Asian markets, and is also an accepted delivery option for COMEX gold futures contracts in the United States.
