Standard Chartered plans Singapore digital asset custody

Standard Chartered plans to offer digital asset custody services in Singapore for institutional clients and accredited investor corporate clients.

The planned offering will cover selected cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets, subject to Singapore regulatory requirements.

The move expands Standard Chartered's digital asset custody presence into another financial centre, building on activity in the UAE, Luxembourg and Hong Kong. In Singapore, the service is expected to sit alongside the bank's Financing & Securities Services business.

The offering will combine traditional asset servicing with tokenisation and digital asset custody. The bank said this is intended to support clients across a broader asset lifecycle, including the safekeeping of conventional assets and digital versions of assets within a single custody framework.

Singapore has become an important market for banks and financial firms developing digital asset services, particularly as institutional interest in tokenised instruments and regulated custody arrangements has grown. Standard Chartered positioned the planned launch as part of a broader push to meet that demand in markets where regulation is taking shape.

Patrick Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore and Chief Executive Officer, ASEAN & South Asia, Standard Chartered, outlined the bank's view of the market.

"Singapore is an important centre for financial innovation, with a strong institutional ecosystem and growing demand for trusted digital asset solutions. Robust infrastructure will be critical to supporting the secure movement, safekeeping, and servicing of tokenised assets at an institutional scale. This marks a significant milestone as we prepare to bring our digital asset custody capabilities to clients in Singapore. It also reinforces our commitment to supporting the development of a secure and well-regulated digital asset ecosystem in the market," Lee said.

Custody has become a central issue in digital asset markets as larger investors seek arrangements that meet existing expectations around safekeeping, controls and oversight. Banks entering the sector have generally focused first on institutional customers rather than retail investors, especially in jurisdictions where regulators have sought tighter supervision of crypto-related activities.

Standard Chartered said demand from institutional and corporate clients had driven continued investment in its digital asset operations. The Singapore plan follows the bank's wider digital asset work across several regions, where it has been building services tied to custody and tokenisation.

The bank's comments also suggest it sees tokenised real-world assets as a growth area alongside more established crypto instruments. Tokenisation refers to the creation of digital representations of assets such as securities or other financial products, which can then be held and transferred using digital infrastructure.

Ole Matthiessen, Global Head, Transaction Services & Digital Assets, Standard Chartered, linked the Singapore launch to the group's wider strategy.

"Secure and regulated custody is a critical foundation of the digital asset ecosystem. As a GSIB we provide the trust, security and institutional safeguards needed to support broader market participation and adoption, and we are pleased to bring this capability to Singapore. As client demand continues to grow, we will continue investing in our digital assets capabilities across key financial centres, connecting clients to opportunities through a secure, integrated and globally connected platform," Matthiessen said.

Standard Chartered has a long presence in Singapore and has positioned the country as a base for parts of its wider business leadership and technology operations. The bank said the custody plan would form part of a connected offering for institutional clients seeking both traditional securities services and digital asset support in regulated markets.

As a regional financial hub, Singapore has become a focal point for firms testing how tokenised assets can fit into mainstream finance, and Standard Chartered's planned entry into custody adds another bank to that effort.