If your company wishes to carry out trust business under the Trust Companies Act 2005 (TCA) , it must hold a trust business licence.

You can find out more about licensed trust companies, including licensing exemptions, at the page Licensed Trust Companies.

When assessing an application for a trust business licence, MAS takes into account factors such as:

• Fitness and propriety of the applicant, its shareholders, resident managers and directors.
• Track record and management expertise of the applicant and its parent company or major shareholders.
• Ability to meet the minimum financial requirements and professional indemnity insurance (PII) requirements prescribed under the Trust Companies Regulations (TCR) .
• Strength of internal compliance systems and processes of the applicant.
• Business model/plans and projections and the associated risks.

Your company is required to appoint a minimum of 2 resident managers, at least one with a minimum of 5 years of relevant working experience. All other resident managers must have a minimum of 3 years of relevant working experience.

For more information on the admission criteria for licensed trust companies, please refer to the Guidelines on Criteria for the Grant of a Trust Business Licence.

Your company should have a minimum paid-up capital or qualifying assets of $250,000 to be granted a trust business licence. On an ongoing basis, your company should maintain the required minimum net asset value or qualifying assets, and adequate PII commensurate with the level of risk of your trust business.

You can find more details on the financial requirements in the TCR  and the Guidelines on Criteria for the Grant of a Trust Business Licence.

If your company is applying for a trust business licence, your company should complete and submit Form 1 under the TCR.

A non-refundable application fee of $1,000 is payable to the Authority for the submission of this application. The application fee is prescribed under regulation 4 of the Regulations. The applicant will be advised on the manner of payment for the application fee upon the Authority's receipt of your application.

MAS expects to take not more than 6 months to review and process an application if the business model is straightforward, the applicant meets the relevant admission criteria fully, and the application is complete and clear. For more complex cases, or cases where information is assessed to be incomplete or inaccurate, MAS will need a longer time to review the application.

Please ensure that your application is complete, correct and accompanied by the requisite supporting documents.

The annual fee is $4,000.

A trust business licence is valid until:

• The holder stops conducting trust business, and the licence is cancelled by MAS.
• The licence is revoked or suspended by MAS in accordance with section 10(2) of the TCA .
• The licence lapses in accordance with section 10(1) of the TCA .

All entities that are holding a trust business licence to conduct trust business are listed on the Financial Institutions Directory. Correspondingly, all entities that cease to hold a licence will be removed from the Financial Institutions Directory.

 MAS also publishes a Licensing and Registration Report for Capital Markets Intermediaries (including licensed trust companies).

For more information on the common approvals, notifications and other regulatory submissions relevant to holders of a trust business licence, please refer to the Compliance Toolkit for Approvals, Notifications and Other Regulatory Submissions to MAS for Licensed and Exempt Trust Companies and Approved CIS Trustees.