In Europe, the commonly accepted licenses for fintech companies are EMI (Electronic Money Institution) licenses. In Singapore, activities in this market segment are also subject to licensing, but the regulator sets less stringent requirements.

The Singaporean SPI (Standard Payment Institution) license is an analogue of the European EMI. The license allows owners to provide any type of payment services, including cryptocurrency transactions. The SPI license allows companies to work with clients from various countries and make payments in different currencies, which opens up wide opportunities for businesses.

Activities covered by the license

• Online invoice issuance;
• Domestic transactions;
• International money transfers;
• Development and maintenance of e-wallet platforms;
• Issuance of emoney;
• Cryptocurrency asset turnover;
• Exchange of fiat, electronic, and digital currencies.

Each type of activity is declared separately. One, two, or all of the listed activities can be declared within a single license application. A separate fee is charged for each type of activity. The list of cryptocurrencies is agreed upon with the regulator for each currency separately.

It is important that each declared area of activity is active. If no activity is conducted, the regulator has the right to close that area for the company or even revoke the license. Therefore, when submitting an application, special attention should be paid to the intended types of activities.

Requirements for obtaining a license

• Presence of three employees: a non-executive director (Singapore resident), an executive director (may not be a resident of the country, except for Russian citizens), and an AML specialist;
• Presence of a local office;
• The shareholder is the company owner or their trustee 50% + 50% Singapore resident;
• Capital requirements: SGD 100,000 (EUR 63,000) - for a turnover of up to 2 million or SGD 250,000 (EUR 160,000);
• The account for depositing the share capital must be opened in one of the banks in Singapore (the law does not require the funds to be kept in the account after the deposit, but this is implied by practice);
• Availability of user registration (personal account) on the website. The link to the website with test user access is specified in the license application. The presence of a security certificate is welcomed.

How to obtain an SPI license in Singapore

The process of obtaining a license requires taking into account the current requirements of the national regulator. Contact IT-OFFSHORE specialists for obtaining an SPI license in Singapore.