As a result, gold bars produced by those refineries would no longer be accepted by central banks or exchanges that require LBMA accreditation. The LBMA runs the world’s largest over-the-counter market for physical gold.
Although Western sanctions were ostensibly aimed at Russia, other nations began to realise how deleterious economic warfare can be on their fortunes. For one, storing your foreign exchange reserves and gold overseas means governments could potentially seize them if they no longer see eye to eye with you.
India has been leading the charge in repatriating its gold. According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, more than 65% of India’s gold reserves were held domestically in 2025, up from 38% in 2022. India usually keeps its gold at the Bank of England and the Bank of International Settlements.
It is not just India. According to the World Gold Council’s (WGC) Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey 2025, the share of central banks reporting that they store part of their gold reserves domestically has risen from 41% in 2024 to 59% in 2025.
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To be sure, London remains the leading centre for over-the-counter (OTC) gold trading, but the wave of repatriation suggests there is room for alternative gold hubs to flourish.
Going for gold
On March 27, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) announced the establishment of a Gold Market Development Working Group to develop measures to position Singapore as a gold trading hub in Asia.
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The working group is co-chaired by the MAS and the SBMA and its members are drawn from a mix of local and foreign banks, including DBS Group Holdings, ICBC Standard Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, UBS AG and United Overseas Bank (UOB). Market players such as the Singapore Exchange Group and the WGC are members too.
“We want to work very closely with the industry so that we understand what some of the industry demands, feedback and potential areas that we can enhance,” deputy chairman of the MAS Chee Hong Tat told reporters in a doorstop interview on March 27.
The working group will develop measures across four key areas. First, the group will broaden the range of gold-related capital-market products to enhance price discovery and liquidity. Second, it will develop robust and internationally aligned standards for vaulting and logistics. Third, the group will establish a clearing system to support secure and efficient OTC settlement of trades in large gold bars and kilobars in Singapore. Fourth, the MAS is looking at how it can provide vaulting services to foreign central banks and sovereign entities.
“It plays to our strengths, and it adds a new vertical pillar to what we are already offering in terms of wealth management and asset management,” Chee says of Singapore’s gold push, adding that it will help create jobs and draw in investments.
Chee, who is also the National Development Minister, was the chair of the Equities Market Review Group. The group was set up by the MAS to recommend measures to bolster Singapore’s stock market. He is now chairing a separate working group tasked with developing Singapore’s growth capital ecosystem.
“Singapore already plays an active role in the global gold ecosystem thanks to a growing suite of investment products and expanding physical infrastructure,” a spokesperson for DBS told The Edge Singapore. “Building on this foundation, there is an opportunity to further deepen and integrate capabilities across the value chain – from capital market instruments to physical infrastructure and vaulting.”
Riding the global gold rush
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Singapore’s present interest in gold should not come as a surprise. Prices for the yellow metal have been surging in recent years. Gold prices rose 64% in 2025, the largest annual gain since 1979. Earlier in January, gold reached a record high of US$5,500 (US$7,000) per ounce amid heightened geopolitical tensions and expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
One key driver for rising gold prices has been central bank purchases. According to the WGC, demand for gold from central banks reached 863 tonnes in 2025, higher than the average recorded between 2010 and 2021.
“Rising government debt, geopolitical concerns and policy unpredictability have accelerated a structural re-rating of gold’s role in portfolios,” says Christopher Wong, an FX strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC). OCBC is supporting the Gold Market Development Working Group by participating in one of the group’s technical workstreams.
Shaokai Fan, WGC’s head of Asia Pacific (ex-China) and global head of central banks, believes that investment demand for gold will sustain even though rate cuts are unlikely to take place due to sticky and stubborn inflation levels. In April, US wholesale inflation rose by 6%, its largest increase since 2022.
“These pressures may be temporary rather than structural,” Fan says. “Gold’s fundamental safe-haven role remains intact, and we expect investment demand to remain strong.”
Room for more gold hubs
While cities like London, New York and Dubai have established themselves as leading centres for gold, analysts believe there is still room for new entrants such as Singapore. For now, London remains the dominant centre for OTC trading, while Dubai leads in physical flows. Shanghai has not been able to fill the gap in Asia despite its high trading volumes due to its “relatively closed system,” says WGC’s Fan.
“Asia does not yet have one single, uncontested gold hub in the way London has historically functioned. But gold markets are inherently networked, and Singapore can play a complementary role,” adds OCBC’s Wong.
“Within this ecosystem, Singapore can add value by strengthening Asia time-zone liquidity and facilitating physical flows into Southeast Asia and India-linked corridors. The push into sovereign vaulting also positions it more as a reserve and storage node than as just a trading venue. So, the role is complementary, adding depth and resilience to the global gold market.”
Kelvin Ng, UOB’s head of group global markets, says Singapore’s strong record of good governance, regulatory clarity, and highly efficient trade and logistics infrastructure will enable it to add value to the global gold ecosystem.
“These structural strengths support confidence in physical custody, delivery and settlement, which is increasingly critical as gold plays a larger role in institutional and investor portfolios amid market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty,” Ng adds.
Singapore’s push to become a gold hub will put it in competition with Hong Kong, which shares similar ambitions. According to a Bloomberg report on March 27, Hong Kong has been inviting central banks friendly to China to participate in its gold-clearing system.
“Hong Kong’s deep economic ties to Mainland China make it a natural conduit for gold to access the Chinese market, which is the largest consumer market for gold in the world,” says WGC’s Fan.
Nonetheless, Fan believes that growth in the overall gold market leaves ample room for both Hong Kong and Singapore to play leading roles.
“Singapore’s opportunity focuses on neutrality, cross-border trust, sovereign and institutional storage, and broader Asean and international connectivity,” says OCBC’s Wong. “Singapore will need to differentiate rather than replicate.”
Playing the long game
Interestingly, the ongoing energy crisis stemming from the war in Iran has not triggered a flight to safety into gold. Gold prices have fallen from their January peak and are trading at around US$4,600, about 6% higher than at the start of this year.
Hakan Kaya, a managing director and senior portfolio manager at the asset management firm Neuberger Berman, told The Edge Singapore in March that the muted response toward gold is because central banks have yet to cut their interest rates.
“Right now, energy prices are pushing inflation expectations higher, but the growth outlook has not deteriorated enough to force the Federal Reserve into aggressive easing,” Kaya says. “That combination is not ideal for gold. Higher inflation without rate cuts means higher yields, and that tends to cap gold in the short term.”
But gold’s volatility will not upend Singapore’s plans to become a leading gold hub in Asia. MAS’s Chee says the city-state remains focused on creating an ecosystem for gold trading to be based in Singapore.
“If you look at what we are doing, we are not placing bets on whether the prices in the short term will go up or go down,” Chee adds. “So, this is planting, not punting. We’re not making bets. We are planting and building an ecosystem.”
