Singapore Investment Funds Management Company

How to set up funds management in Singapore?

Investment Fund Company. Under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), Companies wishing to operate a business with fund management activities in Singapore, they must have one of following licenses with MAS:

Registered fund management company (RFMC)
Licensed fund management company (LFMC)
Venture capital fund manager (VCFM)

Criteria and requirements for funds management license with MAS

ITEMS	RETAILED LFMC	A/I LFMC	VCFM	RFMC
Investors Type	All types of investors with no restriction on no. of investors	Qualified investors only with no restriction on no. of qualified investors	Qualified investors only with no restriction on no. of qualified investors	No more than 30 qualified investors (of which no more than 15 may be funds or limited partnership fund structures) AND the total value of the assets managed does not exceed S$250 million
Capital requirement	Minimum base capital of S$500,000 or S$1 million	Minimum base capital of S$250,000	None	Minimum base capital of S$250,000
Risk-based Capital Requirement	Financial resources are at least 120% of operational risk requirement.	Financial resources are at least 120% of operational risk requirement.	None	None
Amount of management assets	Above S$250 million	Above S$250 million	None	Up to S$250 million
Staffing requirement	Minimum of 3 full-time Singapore-based employees each with at least 5 years of relevant experience, CEO must have at least 10 years of relevant experience	Minimum of 2 full-time Singapore-based employees each with at least 5 years of relevant experience,	Minimum of 2 full-time Singapore-based employees	Minimum of 2 full-time Singapore-based employees each with at least 5 years of relevant experience
Compliance Requirement	Full time, independent compliance function	Independent and dedicated compliance function in Singapore required if AUM is at least S$1 billion	No specific requirements	Can be outsourced as per complexity and scale of business
Reporting requirement	Quarterly and Annual	Quarterly and Annual	Annual	Annual

Definition of Qualified investor

Accredited Investor :

Net Personal assets exceeding S$2 million (or equivalent in foreign currency). Or
Income in preceding 12 months of not less than S$300,000 (or equivalent in foreign currency). Or
A corporation with net assets exceeding S$10 million in value (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) or such other amount as the Authority may prescribe, in place of the first amount, as determined by — (A)the most recent audited balance-sheet of the corporation; or (B)where the corporation is not required to prepare audited accounts regularly, a balance-sheet of the corporation certified by the corporation as giving a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the corporation as of the date of the balance-sheet, which date shall be within the preceding 12 months;
The trustee of such trust as the Authority may prescribe, when acting in that capacity; or
Such other person as the Authority may prescribe.

MAS license Application Processing Time

MAS expects to take not more than 4 months to review and process an application if the business model is straightforward, the applicant meets the relevant admission criteria fully, and the application is complete and clear. For more complex cases, or cases where information is assessed to be incomplete or inaccurate, MAS will need a longer time to review the application.

Legal Forms for funds management in Singapore

There are may have following legal forms for funds set up in Singapore, i.e., trust, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, private Limited companies and Variable Capital Company (VCC).

What can we do?

Ascend Corporate Service can provide:

Funds manage company legal form setup: Private Limited Company, Partnership Creation
Incorporate VCC legal entity for Funds
MAS license application for Funds Management Company
Tax exempt application
Accounting, tax and ACRA supports for funds management company