Digital technology group Sygnum has obtained capital markets services (CMS) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), allowing it to provide digital asset investment strategies to accredited and institutional investors.
Reported by The Business Times on Thursday, the company is set to release a digital asset-focuses fund of funds as soon as November 1 as its first product offering in the city-state.
“We believe that our multi-manager product approach is a very compelling way for professional investors to gain exposure to this emerging new asset class,” Stefan Mueller, head of asset management at Sygnum, said.
“We want to help our clients construct broader, diversified portfolios with reduced risk and institutional-grade trust.”
In August, Sygnum, along with SEBA Crypto, received banking and securities dealers’ licenses in Switzerland, becoming the first set of crypto-focused companies to gain this license.
Sygnum AG, the Swiss-based entity, was permitted to issue, store, trade, and manage the digital assets Bitcoin and Ethereum and also convert multiple fiats, namely the Swiss franc, euro, US dollar, and Singapore dollar, to the two Cryptocurrencies .
The company also detailed that the license was received by the Singapore-registered entity of the firm and cannot be overlapped with its Swiss entity.
Being one of the first licensed crypto firms, the company also attracted notable investors, which include the venture capital arm of the Singtel Group. Earlier, the CEO of the company revealed that it raised about 60 million Swiss francs (around $61 million), which is sufficient for operating for the next two years.
Building a strong team
With licensing in two financial hubs - Switzerland and Singapore - the company is now bolstering its team.
In its Asian office, Sygnum on-boarded Jennifer Lewis, a former managing director of communications at GIC, as an advisor to its leadership team. Other notable appointments at the board of directors and advisory council include ex-MAS regulator Chua Kim Leng and GIC board members Hsieh Fu Hua and Ang Kong Hua.
