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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 :

  1. Net Personal assets exceeding S$2 million (or equivalent in foreign currency). Or
  2. Income in preceding 12 months of not less than S$300,000 (or equivalent in foreign currency). Or
  3. 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;
  4. The trustee of such trust as the Authority may prescribe, when acting in that capacity; or
  5. 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:

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