How to set up a family office in Singapore: the steps

In what order does a family complete a Singapore family office setup?

The sequence has 8 steps: define the family and its scope, check the licensing position, choose a legal structure, register the company, open bank accounts, hire people, set a budget and review residency. Each step feeds the next, because the structure decides the registration and the registration decides what the bank asks for in its checks.

Order matters for time and cost. A family that registers a company before it settles the licensing position can reopen documents later. A family that hires before it opens a bank account has no payroll route. The family office Singapore hub shows where this page sits among its 9 guides.

Does a Singapore family office need a MAS licence?

A single family office that manages only the money of one family can operate under a licensing class exemption from the Securities and Futures Act. MAS announced a revised framework that took effect on 15 June 2026. It asks the office to notify MAS, keep an account with a MAS-licensed bank and file an annual return (MAS media release, 2026).

New offices file a Notice of Commencement of Business within 14 days of starting operations, and existing offices have until 15 June 2027 to comply. The guide on MAS licensing for a family office explains the conditions, the 10% key employee limit and what happens when an office falls outside the exemption.

Which legal structure suits a family office in Singapore?

Families choose between a private limited company, a trust, a variable capital company and combinations of these. The company holds staff and contracts, the trust holds assets for beneficiaries and the fund vehicle holds a pooled portfolio. The MAS exemption is structure agnostic, so the choice rests on control, privacy, succession and the cost of running each vehicle.

The guide on family office legal structure compares the 3 options and links to a page for each. Read it before you register anything, because the structure decides who signs, who serves as a director and where the assets sit.

How does ACRA registration work for a family office company?

A company is registered on Bizfile, the ACRA filing service. The name is reserved first, and the person who reserved it files the application or appoints a corporate service provider to file. The company needs at least one director who meets local residency rules and a company secretary who is a natural person (ACRA, 2026).

ACRA lists a fee of $300 and says most registrations are approved soon after payment, while complex ones may take up to 15 working days. The guide on registering a family office company walks through the 10 steps of the application and the registers the company keeps after incorporation.

What do banks ask of a new Singapore family office?

The MAS exemption asks the office and each of its fund vehicles to hold a bank account with a MAS-licensed bank. A foreign fund vehicle may bank at a regulated bank in a jurisdiction that meets Financial Action Task Force standards. Banks run customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring under a risk-based approach (MAS FAQ, 2026).

Expect questions on the source of the family wealth, the ownership chain and the people who control the structure. The guide on banking and custody covers account opening, custody of securities and the documents banks request, so your file is ready before the first meeting.

Who does a Singapore family office hire, and with which passes?

Typical roles are a head of office, an investment professional, a finance and compliance manager and an administrator. Under the MAS exemption, executive directors, the chief executive, the chief financial officer and investment professionals count as key employees, whose own assets may make up as much as 10% of assets under management.

Foreign hires need a work pass. The Employment Pass is for professionals, managers and executives, and its salary floors depend on age and sector (MOM, 2026). The guide on hiring for a Singapore family office covers local staff, work passes and the local-hire question for investment professionals.

What do cost and market size tell a family about a Singapore family office?

A budget lists registration, advisers, audit, staff, systems and banking, then sets each line against the size of the assets. The guide on the cost to run a family office shows how to build that budget line by line, so the family reads its own numbers instead of a single headline figure.

Market size gives context. MAS reported more than 2,000 single family offices receiving tax incentives as of end December 2025, up from 400 in 2020 (MAS, 2024 and 2026). The guide on how many family offices exist in Singapore explains what these counts include and what they leave out.

Which residency route and final checks support a Singapore family office?

Some founders want residency for themselves. The Global Investor Programme, run by the Economic Development Board, accords Singapore Permanent Resident status to eligible global investors who show a substantial business track record (EDB, 2026). The guide on this route explains how it fits a family office plan.

Before you commit, run a final set of 12 checks across licence, structure, registration, bank, people and budget. The family office Singapore checklist turns this page into a list you can tick. EQOS Asia scores family decisions across life dimensions, and a pre-diagnostic applies that score to your plan (EQOS Asia private page, 2026).

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About the author

Stéphane Jambu

President, EQOS Forecast Asia

Stéphane Jambu leads EQOS Forecast Asia and works as a consultant in e-commerce, search visibility, and AI. LinkedIn profile