The facility gives foreign monetary authorities a sovereign custodian in Asia alongside established options such as the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. MAS chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said some central banks had expressed interest but declined to identify them, citing confidential discussions.

The opening comes as privately held gold in Singapore has expanded sharply. Estimates from bullion dealer J. Rotbart & Co. put holdings above 800 tonnes last year, up 16-fold since 2014, with much of the increase coming from Europe. The Reserve, a private vault near Changi Airport, can hold about 500 tonnes; Le Freeport can store at least 1,700 tonnes. The new MAS facility is separate from those private operators.

From April 2027, tax relief will cover wholesale services between institutions, including vaulting, refining, recasting, assaying and broking. An SGX over-the-counter clearing system is expected by year-end, with DBS, Deutsche Bank, ICBC Standard, JPMorgan, OCBC and UOB as clearing members. Live trading is expected by March 2027, followed by deliverable kilobar futures in the second quarter.

The push comes as central banks continue buying gold and spreading custody across locations amid concerns about security and political risk. Goldman Sachs estimated purchases at 79 tonnes in August and 85 tonnes a month on a three-month basis, compared with 17 tonnes before 2022. At about $4,050 an ounce, 500 tonnes of gold is worth roughly $65 billion. But storage alone will not make Singapore a major bullion market: analysts say liquidity and the ability to lend, swap and trade gold where it is held will also matter.