Sygnum, the digital asset technology group based in Singapore and Switzerland, announced today that it has been licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the de facto central bank of the Asian city-state, to provide capital market services (CMS).
The CMS license will enable Sygnum to conduct asset management activities in Singapore, focusing on digital asset investment strategies for institutional and private qualified investors.
Sygnum intends to offer such advisory services to both institutional and private clients. The company itself describes its presence in Singapore as the „cornerstone“ of its own business strategy. Stefan Müller, Head of Asset Management at Sygnum, commented on his company’s recent expansion as follows:
“The CMS license is an important milestone in building our asset management business, taking advantage of the dynamic financial environment in Singapore. This complements our banking services in Switzerland and also benefits our institutional and private clients in Switzerland.”
Sygnum began discussions with regulators in August 2019 and applied for a capital markets service license, which will enable it to offer asset management businesses as a first step towards financial services. Singapore is considered positive about crypto currencies and blockchain technology in general. The country is trying to integrate new technologies into state activities and beyond.
Expansion and crypto fund of funds planned
Already on August 26, Sygnum received a bank and securities license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The company is thus allowed to offer banking services in Switzerland. As part of the Singapore announcement, Sygnum announced plans for its first own financial product in Switzerland.
This will be a multi-manager fund. In other words, a kind of fund of funds in which the money invested is distributed to the portfolios of various asset managers. These will then invest the deposited funds with the aid of various investment strategies. This service will be available in Switzerland for private and institutional investors.
In March of this year, Sygnum also entered into a partnership with Deutsche Börse and Swisscom. The aim of the strategic cooperation is to establish a reliable ecosystem for investment in digital assets. In the near future, the company also aims to expand into other markets within Europe and Hong Kong.
Source: BTC-Echo
