Singapore’s second largest bank offers physical gold bar trading

Starting Wednesday, the second largest lender in Singapore by assets will allow customers to buy either 1-kilogram bars or larger 400-troy-ounce bars, which weigh about 12.4 kilograms, according to a release Monday.

Each bar will be individually allocated and identified by a serial number, giving investors direct ownership of specific bars rather than a claim on a pooled reserve.

The new service will enable Bank of Singapore clients who previously traded physical gold through a U.S.-based entity to do so through OCBC instead. The bank declined to identify the U.S. entity.

Bank of Singapore, a lender arm of OCBC, said gold bullion holdings under the previous arrangement have risen by more than 40% since the end of 2025, with ultra-high-net-worth clients accounting for the vast majority of those assets.

However, clients have increasingly shown a preference for holding bullion locally and transacting through Singapore-based entities, as geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty remain elevated.

OCBC’s head of global markets, Kenneth Lai, said the group’s physical gold trading and custodian capabilities represent a “strategic expansion” of its market-making capabilities in precious metals.

“While we have started with institutional and private banking clients, over time we are looking to expand to other client segments and offer them a comprehensive range of physical gold investment and hedging solutions,” he said.

This file photo taken on June 28, 2005 shows a worker cleaning the OCBC bank logo in Singapore. Photo by AFP

OCBC already offers paper gold and silver investments through its Precious Metals Account, which allows transactions from as little as 0.01 ounce.

Customers can also gain exposure to gold through the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold Fund, the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold exchange-traded fund, or ETF, and selected investment-linked insurance products offered by Great Eastern, in which OCBC owns a majority stake.

Before OCBC’s entry into physical gold, UOB, the third largest lender in Singapore (behind DBS and OCBC) was the only local bank offering physical gold trading to investors, The Straits Times reported.

In March, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Bullion Market Association outlined plans to strengthen Singapore’s position as a gold trading center.