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:

Individuals

For sole proprietors, the applicant must be a Singapore citizen.

Partnership or Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

The majority of its partners should be Singapore citizens. If there are only two partners, only one needs to be a Singapore citizen.

Singapore-owned Company

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.

Foreign-owned Company

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.