Money-Changing Licence
Money-changing licensees are licensed and regulated under the Payment Services Act ("PS Act") to conduct only money-changing services i.e. the service of buying or selling foreign currency notes.
Note that entities that provide other payment services must hold a standard payment institution licence or major payment institution licence instead.
To view the list of money-changing licensees in Singapore, refer to the Financial Institutions Directory.
Who Can Apply
The individual applicant, partners or directors of a company applying should have a minimum of 1 year's relevant working or business experience on a full-time basis.
They will also need to meet the following governance requirements:
For sole proprietors, the applicant must be a Singapore citizen.
The majority of its partners should be Singapore citizens. If there are only two partners, only one needs to be a Singapore citizen.
More than 50% of the equity shareholdings should be beneficially owned and effectively controlled by Singapore citizens.
A majority of the board of directors of the company should be Singapore citizens. If there are only two directors, only one of the directors needs to be a Singapore citizen.
For a Singapore incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary of a foreign bank, or a foreign company primarily engaged in money-changing, the parent company needs to:
- Be of significant size. In case of a foreign bank, it needs to ranks among the top banks in the country where it is incorporated.
- Possess a good track record and reputation.
- Be adequately regulated and supervised by its home supervisory authority for AML/CFT.
Admission Criteria
When assessing an application for a money-changing licence, MAS takes into consideration factors such as
- Fitness and propriety of the applicant; and in the case of a company, partnership or limited liability partnership, the fitness and propriety of its management.
- Financial condition of the applicant, and in the case where the applicant is a company, partnership or limited liability partnership, its track record and financial performance in previous years.
- Ownership and shareholding structure.
- Qualifications and experience, particularly in operating a money-changing business and in anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).
- Business plan and model, including AML/CFT policies and procedures.
- Whether the public interest will be served by granting a licence.
For more details, read the Guidelines on Licensing for Payment Service Providers.
Note: MAS considers each application on its own merits and may take into account other factors on a case-by-case basis.
How to Apply
Find out about the application process.
Licence Fee
Money-changing licensees are required to pay an annual licence fee of S$1,500.
Validity
The money-changing licence is valid until either:
- The licence is revoked by MAS.
- The licence lapses in accordance with section 11(1) of the PS Act and regulation 10 of the Payment Services Regulations.
- The licensee surrenders its licence.
All entities that cease to hold a licence will be removed from the Financial Institutions Directory.