Singapore VCC insights

List of Family Offices in Singapore: Why None Is Public and What MAS Publishes Instead

By VCC Editorial Team · Published 6 November 2026

Short answer: No official list of family offices in Singapore is published. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) names licensed and registered firms in its Financial Institutions Directory, but single family offices operate under a class exemption and are not listed there. MAS publishes only aggregate counts, most recently more than 2,000 tax-incentivised single family offices at end December 2025.

This article is general information only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. For matters needing legal advice, we work with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms.

Bankers, deal teams and families checking a counterparty often look for a list of family office Singapore entities and find a commercial database or a ranking. None of these is an official record, because Singapore does not publish one. This article sets out what each public register does and does not show, what MAS has said in its own words, and how to check a specific single family office (SFO), multi-family office (MFO) or fund manager. All sources were checked on 6 November 2026.

Is there an official list of family offices in Singapore?

No. No Singapore authority publishes the names of single family offices. MAS publishes aggregate numbers, and the public registers it keeps cover licensed, registered and certain exempt financial institutions, not SFOs operating under the class exemption.

This follows from how SFOs are regulated. Under the framework MAS brought into force on 15 June 2026, an SFO that meets the conditions in paragraph 5(1)(ba) of the Second Schedule to the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations is exempt from licensing. MAS’s media release of 12 June 2026 describes the arrangement as “a straight through class exemption from licensing for all qualifying SFOs”. It adds that SFOs “need only notify MAS of their operations, and maintain an account with a MAS-licensed bank”, and must file “a straightforward annual return with information on the total assets under management and the name of its bank.”

The notification and the annual return go to MAS, not to a public register. MAS’s FAQs, last revised on 31 July 2026, say nothing about publication, and the media release frames the change as “enhancing overall monitoring of SFOs”. The conditions are covered in our guide to Singapore family office requirements.

What does MAS actually publish about the number of family offices?

MAS publishes a count of SFOs whose funds hold section 13O or 13U tax incentives, and it does so mainly through written replies to parliamentary questions. These are the only official figures, and they count incentive holders, not every family office.

The three most recent data points, quoted from MAS’s own replies, are:

• Reply for the sitting of 6 March 2024: “As of 31 December 2023, there were around 1,400 Single Family Offices (SFOs) that have been awarded tax incentives.”
• Reply for the sitting of 5 February 2025: “The number of Single Family Offices (SFOs) awarded tax incentives grew from 400 as at end 2020 to over 2,000 as at end 2024.”
• Reply for the sitting of 5 August 2026: “As of end December 2025, more than 2,000 Single Family Offices (SFOs) receive tax incentives.” The reply adds that these SFOs serve families “predominantly from the Asia Pacific region, followed by Europe and the Americas.”

The 5 August 2026 question asked for assets under management (AUM) by country of origin and for pending applications. The answer gave only the aggregate count and regional ordering, and named no office. SFOs without a 13O or 13U fund fall outside these figures. Why Singapore’s figure and Hong Kong’s widely quoted count measure different things is covered in how many family offices there are in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Does the MAS Financial Institutions Directory list family offices?

No. The MAS Financial Institutions Directory lists institutions by licence or status category, and on 6 November 2026 none of its categories covered single family offices.

The capital markets section lists, among others, Capital Markets Services Licensees (1,579 entries on the day of checking), Exempt Capital Markets Services Entities (124) and Licensed Trust Companies (67). A multi-family office that holds a capital markets services (CMS) licence for fund management will appear as a licensee. A class-exempt SFO will not appear under any family office heading, because there is none.

Entries also change. MAS’s FAQs on the licensing of fund management companies (updated June 2026) say that when a licence lapses, MAS “will take steps to remove the FMC from the Financial Institutions Directory as soon as practicable”. A directory result is a snapshot, to be checked again on the day of any decision that depends on it.

Why is a commercial list of family office Singapore data not authoritative?

A commercial list is built from secondary signals such as company names, SSIC codes, press coverage and self-description. None of these is a regulatory status, so no such list can confirm that an entity is an SFO, is exempt, or holds a tax incentive.

MAS’s own replies show why the obvious shortcut fails. In the reply for the sitting of 6 March 2024, the question asked whether any family office classification existed outside SSIC code 66306. MAS answered that “Besides 66306, SFOs have classified themselves under other Singapore Standard Industry Classification (SSIC) codes such as the other codes in the 663 SSIC family relating to fund management activities (e.g. 66301 Traditional/Long-only asset/Portfolio management) and the 702 SSIC family relating to management consultancy activities.” A list drawn from one SSIC code will miss SFOs that chose another code. It will also include companies that chose that code without operating as an SFO.

There are three further structural limits:

• Status is not public. Whether an entity has filed the MAS notification, or holds a 13O or 13U award for its fund, is held by MAS and is not disclosed entity by entity.
• Ownership changes are not reported to MAS. FAQ 8 of the SFO FAQs states that “there is no need for SFOs to update MAS of changes to their shareholding structure or operational arrangements”, so even MAS’s own records are not a live ownership register.
• The population is changing. Existing SFOs have until 15 June 2027 to meet the conditions and notify, and some will restructure or close. Our article on the single family office transition to 15 June 2027 covers those options.

A purchased list may help with market mapping, but it is not evidence for know-your-customer (KYC) purposes.

What can you verify, and where?

Each public source answers one narrow question, and none confirms SFO status.

Question	Where to check	What it shows	What it does not show
Does the company exist, and is it live?	ACRA Bizfile entity search (free) or Business Profile (S$5.50)	Live status and registered address (free); fuller company particulars in the paid profile	Whether it is an SFO, whether it has notified MAS, or whether its fund holds a tax incentive
Which live companies describe their activity as fund management or family office?	ACRA Bizfile industry search by SSIC code	Up to 250 live entities per search under the selected codes	Regulatory status; SFOs that chose a different code
Is the firm licensed or registered by MAS?	MAS Financial Institutions Directory	Licence or status category and regulated activities, for listed institutions	Class-exempt SFOs, for which there is no category
Is this individual allowed to carry out regulated activities for a licensed firm?	MAS Financial Institution Representatives Register	Representatives, their principals and their regulated activities	Whether an entity or person works for an SFO
Has MAS flagged the entity as possibly misrepresenting itself?	MAS Investor Alert List	Persons who may be wrongly perceived as licensed or regulated by MAS, as known to MAS	A clean bill of health; the list is not exhaustive
How many SFOs hold tax incentives?	MAS written parliamentary replies	Aggregate counts at a stated date	Names, or SFOs without a 13O or 13U fund

How do you verify a multi-family office or fund manager before engaging it?

Start from the law, not the brochure. Section 82(1) of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 provides that no person may “carry on business in any regulated activity or hold out that the person is carrying on such business unless the person is the holder of a capital markets services licence for that regulated activity”, unless an exemption applies; under section 82(3) breach carries a fine of up to S$150,000, imprisonment of up to 3 years, or both. The SFO exemption is limited to one family, so an MFO carrying on fund management must hold a licence or show another specific exemption. See our post on multi-family office Singapore requirements.

1. Obtain the exact legal name and unique entity number (UEN), not a brand name.
2. Run the UEN through ACRA Bizfile to confirm the entity is live and its registered address matches your documents; buy the Business Profile for material engagements.
3. Search the MAS Financial Institutions Directory for the same legal entity and confirm its category and that fund management is among its regulated activities.
4. Check that the individuals who will manage or advise on the family’s assets appear in the MAS Financial Institution Representatives Register under that firm. MAS’s FMC FAQs state that “Only individuals whose names are listed on the Public Register of Representatives may carry out the regulated activities.”
5. Search the MAS Investor Alert List and MAS enforcement actions for the entity and its principals. A nil result is not clearance, because MAS says the alert list “is not exhaustive”.
6. If the firm claims an exemption instead of a licence, ask for the provision relied on and the supporting facts, and have Singapore counsel review it.
7. Record the date of each search, keep downloads, and re-check the directory before signing and at each periodic review.

How do you check a counterparty that says it is a single family office?

You cannot confirm SFO status from a public register, so the evidence has to come from the SFO itself. The test is whether the facts fit the exemption conditions and whether the notification has been made.

Under MAS’s SFO FAQ 1, the SFO may manage money only for family members, charities funded exclusively by the family, and key employees, whose assets (if they are not family members) must not exceed 10% of AUM. It must be incorporated in Singapore and bank with a MAS-licensed bank. Under FAQ 3, a new SFO notifies within 14 days of starting operations and receives a system-generated acknowledgement. A counterparty conducting due diligence can reasonably ask for:

• the MAS acknowledgement of the notice of commencement of business, or, for an SFO operating before 15 June 2026, confirmation of its plan to notify by 15 June 2027;
• a confirmation, signed by a director, that the SFO manages assets only for the permitted persons;
• where a tax incentive is claimed for the fund, the MAS letter of award for the fund vehicle (the SFO itself does not hold the award);
• the ACRA Business Profile, to tie the legal entity to the documents above.

An SFO that presents itself to outsiders as “MAS-licensed” or “MAS-regulated” in the same sense as a licensed fund manager is overstating its position, and that should be a red flag in any review. The exemption is a condition-based carve-out from licensing, not a licence, and FAQ 5 records that “It is not MAS’ intention to license SFOs”. The ongoing obligations of an exempt SFO are set out in our article on family office compliance in Singapore.

Will the 15 June 2026 notification regime create a public register?

Nothing MAS has published says so. The notification and annual return give MAS, for the first time, a record of every operating SFO that has notified, but the FAQs and the media release describe them as filings to MAS only.

After 15 June 2027, every SFO operating in Singapore should have notified, giving MAS a population count that does not depend on tax incentives. Whether MAS publishes a figure on that basis is for MAS. Families should assume their SFO’s name and figures will stay non-public, so banks, custodians and co-investors will ask the SFO itself for evidence that a licensed manager could answer with a directory link. A ready verification pack (notification acknowledgement, constitution, ownership chart, bank confirmations, and any letters of award) shortens onboarding. Our corporate services team prepares and maintains these packs as part of ongoing company secretarial work.

Frequently asked questions

Can I download a list of all family offices registered with MAS?

No. The Financial Institutions Directory has no SFO category, and SFO notifications are not published. MAS publishes only aggregate counts.

How many family offices are there in Singapore?

MAS’s latest figure is “more than 2,000” tax-incentivised SFOs as of end December 2025 (reply of 5 August 2026). SFOs without a 13O or 13U fund are excluded.

Is a single family office in Singapore licensed by MAS?

No. A qualifying SFO is exempt from licensing under paragraph 5(1)(ba) of the Second Schedule to the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations. It notifies MAS and files annual returns but does not become a licensee.

Does SSIC code 66306 identify all family offices?

No. MAS has stated that SFOs also use other 663 fund management codes, such as 66301, and codes in the 702 management consultancy family.

How do I check whether a multi-family office is licensed?

Find the legal entity in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory, confirm fund management is a licensed activity, and check its investment staff in the Representatives Register.

Does the MAS Investor Alert List show unlicensed family offices?

Only those known to MAS. The list is expressly not exhaustive, so absence from it is not evidence of good standing.

Sources

• MAS, Written reply to Parliamentary Question on the number of Single Family Offices (5 August 2026)
• MAS, FAQs on Licensing Exemption Framework for Single Family Offices (last revised 31 July 2026)
• MAS, Revised Framework for Single Family Offices to take effect on 15 June 2026 (12 June 2026)
• MAS, Investor Alert List
• ACRA, Using Bizfile’s search functions

Raffles Corporate Services helps family offices and fund managers with VCC incorporation, family office set-up and ongoing compliance, including the verification documents banks and counterparties ask an exempt single family office to produce. Email hello@rafflescorporateservices.com or Call/SMS/WhatsApp +65 8501 7133, or visit Raffles Corporate Services.

Last reviewed: 6 November 2026. The Editorial Team, Variable Capital Companies Act.