Sygnum, the digital asset technology group based in Singapore and Switzerland, announced today that it has successfully obtained a capital markets services (CMS) licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The company recently received its banking and securities dealer licence from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). With the CMS licence, Sygnum can now conduct asset management activities in Singapore, and will focus primarily on digital asset investment strategies for institutional and private qualified investors.
The first product will be a multi-manager fund (also referred to as a “fund-of-funds”), which allocates investments across a portfolio of managers that tap into the global digital asset opportunity using different and uncorrelated investment strategies. This will soon be available in Switzerland through Sygnum’s banking platform to institutional and private qualified investors.
Sygnum’s team has interdisciplinary expertise across digital assets and traditional asset management, and partners with a number of specialist digital asset fund managers. At the same time, Sygnum uses a systematic portfolio construction methodology, supported by a rigorous manager and operational due diligence process to mitigate the risk of investing in this new asset class.
“The CMS licence is an important milestone to establishing our asset management arm, leveraging the vibrant financial environment in Singapore. This is complementary to our banking services in Switzerland and will also benefit our Swiss institutional and private qualified investor clients,” said Sygnum Head of Asset Management, Stefan Mueller.
“Our dual location – in Singapore and Switzerland – is one of the cornerstones of our strategy. This is reflected across team, advisory council, board of directors as well as investor base. All have been instrumental in our achievements so far across both countries,” added Sygnum Co-Founder and CEO Singapore Mathias Imbach.
Sygnum has an outstanding board of directors and advisory council, with a list of established names across both countries. In Switzerland, this includes BlackRock vice-chairman Dr. Philipp Hildebrand and former UBS Group CEO Peter Wuffli. They are joined in Singapore by ex-MAS regulator Chua Kim Leng, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC, board members Hsieh Fu Hua and Ang Kong Hua. Hsieh and Ang also hold various leadership and board positions in other key Singapore institutions. Most recently, the company has further strengthened the organization with the appointment of Jennifer Lewis, former managing director of communications at GIC, as an advisor to the Singapore leadership team.
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>> Sygnum granted capital markets services (CMS) licence for asset management in Singapore