Singapore Private Banking Onboarding for Non-Residents: A Practical Playbook

A step-by-step onboarding playbook for non-resident HNWIs opening a private banking relationship in Singapore: documents, AUM thresholds, timelines, and risk checks.

Opening a private banking relationship in Singapore is straightforward—if you prepare like a professional. Banks prioritise risk control, documentation quality, and long-term relationship potential. This playbook walks through the process used by experienced clients to get to “account open” faster and with fewer surprises.

1) Understand the segments and thresholds

• Premier / Affluent: typically USD 200k–1m assets.
• Private Banking (PB): commonly USD 1–5m+ in assets under management (AUM).
• Ultra / Family Office desks: USD 10m+ AUM, tailored credit and alternatives. Tip: AUM is not a hard “paywall”—document quality and strategic intent matter.

2) Prepare a bank-ready dossier (before outreach)

• Identity & residency: passport, proof of address (utility bill or bank statement).
• Tax transparency: completed tax self-certification (CRS/FATCA), TIN where applicable.
• Source of wealth (SOW): 1–2 page narrative + evidence (e.g., SPA for company exit, dividend statements, audited accounts, payslips/bonus letters, real-estate sale contracts).
• Source of funds (SOF): traceable path for the first transfer (recent account statements).
• Corporate links (if any): share registers, business licences, simple group chart.
• PEP / sanctions check: proactively disclose any exposure; banks will screen anyway.

3) Shortlist and approach

• Fit matters: product shelf (alternatives, DPM), booking currencies (USD/SGD/EUR), RM bench, digital capabilities.
• Initial call: be specific about expected AUM, credit needs (Lombard), currencies, and reporting preferences.
• Indicative terms: fees (bps tiers), custody minimums, FX spread bands, DPM/advisory pricing.

4) Timelines & what slows deals

• Typical timeline: 1–3 weeks from KYC start to account activation if documents are clean; longer for complex SOW (e.g., multi-jurisdiction exits).
• Slow points: unverifiable SOW stories, cash-intensive businesses, opaque trusts without recent statements, name hits in screening.

5) Risk & maintenance

• Periodic reviews: expect annual/bi-annual refresh; keep a ready folder for updates.
• Transaction rationale: large flows need simple memos (why, from where, to where).
• Travel & access: ensure e-banking tokens/biometrics are set before travel.

6) A simple “ready to open” checklist

• One PDF deck: ID, address, CRS/FATCA, SOW narrative + evidence, corporate docs, recent bank statements.
• AUM commitment plan: staged funding timeline (e.g., 40% now, 60% post-transfer of custody).
• Product intent: list instruments you will use (MMFs, DPM, alternatives, FX hedging).

Singapore private banking, onboarding checklist, AUM threshold, KYC source of wealth, non-resident account opening, CRS FATCA

About the Author

Marks Toms – Editor-in-Chief
Marks oversees editorial policy, compliance, and fact-checking at bankaccountsopen. Read more articles