SINGAPORE — Singapore has opened its national currency vault to the world's central banks. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Tuesday, November 10, launched a gold-vaulting service that lets foreign central banks, international financial institutions and sovereign entities store their gold reserves in Singapore — a direct bid for a share of the surging official demand for bullion.
Source: Singapore Business Review / MAS statement, Nov 10 2026
The gold will be held in Singapore's national currency vault, which can store up to 500 tonnes, with room to expand as demand grows, MAS said. The service offers secure, allocated custody and access to gold-market liquidity during Asian trading hours, and adds to commercial vaults in Singapore whose capacity already exceeds 2,000 tonnes.
Source: BusinessToday, Nov 10 2026
Gan Kim Yong: demand for gold as a reserve asset is 'growing very fast'
'The demand for gold as a reserve asset is growing very fast, given the uncertainty that we are facing today,' Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who also chairs MAS, told reporters on Tuesday. Some overseas central banks have already expressed interest, he said, declining to name them because the discussions are confidential. 'Singapore does not aim to replace other gold centres and gold vaulting services,' Gan said. 'We are an additional option that is offered to the central banks.'
Source: Business Times via Longbridge, Nov 10 2026
MAS will also offer gold custody accounts to selected Singapore-based bullion banks with experience in gold services and trading liquidity. Six banks — UOB, OCBC, DBS, JPMorgan, ICBC Standard Bank and Deutsche Bank — have been chosen as clearing members alongside the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for a new over-the-counter gold clearing system; industry testing is complete, preparations are to finish by the end of 2026, and live trading and market operations are expected from the first quarter of 2027.
Source: BusinessToday, Nov 10 2026
Tax relief alongside the vault
With the Ministry of Finance, MAS also announced an enhanced GST framework for wholesale investment precious metal gold activities: GST will not be charged on services between institutional participants — including vaulting, refining, recasting, assaying and broking. The framework is expected to take effect in April 2027, with further details at Budget 2027.
Source: Singapore Business Review / MAS statement, Nov 10 2026
The launch lands in a market where official buying has been relentless: the World Gold Council put central-bank purchases at 321 tonnes in the third quarter of 2026, up 42 per cent from a year earlier, taking buying in the first nine months to 675 tonnes, and China's central bank extended its gold-buying streak to a 24th straight month in October. For Asian savers — including Punjabi and Indian families for whom gold is both jewellery and security — Singapore's move underlines how central the metal has become to the region's finance, even though the new vault serves institutions, not households.
Source: Business Times via Longbridge, Nov 10 2026
What is solid
- MAS launched the central bank gold-vaulting service on Nov 10, 2026, open to foreign central banks, sovereign entities and international financial institutions
- Gold will be stored in the national currency vault with capacity up to 500 tonnes, expandable as demand grows
- An enhanced GST framework for wholesale gold services is expected from April 2027, and an SGX-linked OTC gold clearing system is expected to be ready by end-2026 with live trading in Q1 2027
What is only claimed
- Which central banks will actually move gold to Singapore — Gan Kim Yong said some have expressed interest but named none, citing confidentiality; vault capacity is not gold already deposited
Watch the SGX clearing preparations due by the end of 2026, the Budget 2027 details of the GST framework, and whether any central bank publicly confirms storing reserves in Singapore — the first named depositor would turn an offer into a hub.