As Singapore continues to compete with other centres for family offices, its principal regulator has spoken of lightening some of the red tape burdens on organisations seeking to get tax incentives.

Singapore wants to make it easier for single-family offices to use a tax benefit programme as competition for ultra-wealthy clients intensifies, Bloomberg reported.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore intends to reduce the amount of documents needed for applications and ease reporting requirements, deputy chairman Chee Hong Tat was quoted as saying in a speech on Monday. It is also considering expanding the types of investments eligible for the programme, he said.

In Singapore, more than 2,000 single family offices have been granted tax exemptions as of 2024. Applications for the exemptions – known as 13O and 13U depending on the assets under management of the applicants – were taking more than a year [to be approved]  at one stage, according to Chee.

β€œToday, most new applications are approved within three months,” he said. β€œWe may not get everything right in the first instance, just like many other jurisdictions,” Chee said. β€œWe are very open to listening to feedback from the industry and we work together with them to see how we can make things better.”

As reported here, Singapore has turned up the regulatory heat on financial services following the 2023 money laundering scandal. One consequence, as WealthBriefing has heard, is that client onboarding into banks and external managers has slowed and become increasingly burdensome. The Asian city-state has also brought in new regulatory requirements for family offices following a large inflow.