Sygunm Subsidiary Receives Major Payment Institution License

Jimmy Aki
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Sygnum Singapore, a subsidiary of the top Swiss-based cryptocurrency bank, has recently received a license to offer crypto-related services to investors in the Asian nation.

Sygnum Grabs MPIL From MAS

According to an announcement shared on its platform, Sygnum Singapore was granted a major payment institution license (MPIL) by the top Singaporean regulatory body – the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Sharing more insights and its target audience, Sygnum Singapore stated that this new license allows them to offer digital payment token (DPT) trading services to accredited investors and institutions in the country.

In addition, it would enable the investment firm to expand its market presence into the Asia Pacific (APAC) markets, with its first focus being Hong Kong.

The investment firm stated that its platform would offer a seamless fiat-digital asset gateway, allowing investors to trade various digital currencies.

Also, it will come with deep liquidity, competitive spreads, and fast trade settlements in line with live balance updates and quotes.

Prior to the latest development, Sygnum Singapore obtained an in-principle approval from MAS to offer three additional regulated activities under its capital markets scheme (CMS) license in early 2022.

The CMS license was initially granted in 2019 and allowed Sygnum Singapore to commence asset management activities in the country.

Meanwhile, Sygnum Singapore first received in-principle approval for its MPIL in June 2023.

Sharing insights on how far crypto-based operations have come, the asset management company stated that it took just four months to obtain a green light from the top government agency.

This is due to the country’s progress in supervising activities in the distributed ledger technology (DLT) ecosystem.

Founded in 2018, Sygnum is a Swiss-based operation with Swiss and Singaporean founders. The investment management has over $3 billion in assets under management (AUM).

The investment hub is in over 60 countries, offering high-end financial services to 1,600+ customers, including banks, institutional investors, and DLT-focused foundations.

The multinational investment group has also expanded its operations to Abu Dhabi and Luxembourg in recent years.

Blockchain and Crypto Haven

Singapore has been one of the most pro-crypto regions in the world since the nascent industry came to public notice in 2021.

The Asian nation has provided a viable ecosystem for crypto founders to flourish, unlike certain regions where crypto regulations are still hostile.

This open-minded approach to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain industry has seen several European and American-based businesses expanding into the Asian markets through Singapore.

A recent example is the US-based centralized cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which has also secured MPIL approval from MAS to offer DPT trading services to institutional investors and accredited retail individuals.

The announcement was made on October 2, enabling the beginner-friendly Bitcoin trading platform to increase its market presence globally.

US Not Getting the Memo

Although the US has a huge presence in the crypto space, federal regulators have been wary of giving the green light for full-on adoption.

Instead, the world’s largest economy has focused on regulating several crypto-facing services and digital currencies by force.

In a recent release, US Senator Don Beyer introduced new legislation on the floor of the Senate called Off-Chain Digital Commodity Transaction Reporting Act 2023.

In it, Beyer stated that all blockchain transactions, be they on-chain or off-chain, should be reported to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-registered repository.

According to Beyer, the need for proper documentation of off-chain transactions is due to the lack of proper record-keeping amongst crypto exchanges.

With transactions executed off the primary blockchain network to save time and costs, it is easy for dubious individuals to utilize secondary networks to transfer value.

This will end up not reflecting on the primary protocol, making it hard to track down fraud cases and missing funds.

About Jimmy Aki PRO INVESTOR

Based in the UK, Jimmy is an economic researcher with outstanding hands-on and heads-on experience in Macroeconomic finance analysis, forecasting and planning. He has honed his skills having worked cross-continental as a finance analyst, which gives him inter-cultural experience. He currently has a strong passion for regulation and macroeconomic trends as it allows him peek under the global bonnet to see how the world works.