MAS Eases Family Office Tax Rules and Widens AML Checks as Singapore Eyes Global Wealth

Among the key changes, SFOs will have more time to hire investment professionals. For those applying under the S13O or S13OA schemes, they can start with just one qualifying investment professional, down from two. Those applying under S13U can start with two, instead of three. The remaining hires, including at least one non-family member, must be completed within the first year of the award.

MAS has also scrapped continuous tracking of assets under management in designated investments. Funds will now only need to report compliance at the point of application and at the end of each basis period, a change designed “to reduce the compliance burden associated with continuous AUM tracking”.

Local spending requirements have also been eased. Eligible charitable donations and grants to blended finance instruments can now be partially counted towards local spending. Capital deployment requirements have been streamlined to three options, with Singapore-listed equities and non-listed Singapore operating companies counted at double their value for the minimum deployment requirement.

While easing operational requirements, MAS has tightened safeguards governing SFO funds. The definition of “relevant persons” subject to anti-money laundering screening has been widened to explicitly include anyone who contributed to the source of funds, going beyond beneficial owners, shareholders, or those with ultimate control.

Notably, this condition includes the period before the condition took effect, meaning even long-approved family offices must now demonstrate a clean record retroactively. The new standard terms will also override existing letters of award where their terms differ, meaning family offices with awards issued before August 1 are not shielded from the revised requirements.

Funds without an existing bank account with an MAS-licensed institution will be given a three-month grace period from August 1, 2026, to open a private banking account, failing which their awards may be revoked. The 5 per cent cap on physical investment precious metals qualifying as designated investments has been removed entirely from August 1.

Industry watchers said the changes reflect Singapore’s efforts to remain competitive as a family-office hub without compromising its reputation as a well-regulated financial centre. Kylie Luo, executive director and tax advisory leader at BDO, said that while competitiveness was a consideration, the broader objective was to ensure Singapore remains an attractive and credible family-office hub.

Ryan Lin, director at Bayfront Law, noted that clients “do not choose jurisdictions on tax incentives alone. They also weigh regulatory certainty, political and economic stability, banking infrastructure, professional services, succession planning, and access to investment opportunities.”

Bryan Low, head of international wealth management for Singapore at KGI, noted that this is being seen as codification rather than change. “It spells out clearly what good practice already looks like. The firms that were doing this properly will not feel it.” At end-2025, the Republic had more than 2,000 SFOs receiving tax incentives, managing the wealth of families originating predominantly from the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe and the Americas.