Large gold bars and kilobars will be made available from 10 June 2026, with the trading and custodial chain completely in Singapore.

Singapore, 8 June 2026 – Building on the success of its paper gold business, OCBC has expanded into the physical gold business. From 10 June 2026, institutional clients of OCBC, as well as high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients of its private banking subsidiary, Bank of Singapore, will be able to buy, sell and custodise the precious metal with OCBC in a secure, Singapore-based vault.

This entry into the physical gold business is a strategic move to strengthen OCBC’s Group-wide capabilities in the precious metal amid a surge in global demand, particularly for gold bars. According to World Gold Council, demand for gold bars in the first quarter of 2026 was 50% higher than a year ago. Reflecting this global trend, Bank of Singapore client holdings for physical gold have similarly grown more than 40% since the end of 2025. A vast majority of these physical gold holdings belong to ultra-high-net-worth clients, a key growth segment for Bank of Singapore.

The new capability also enables Bank of Singapore clients – who previously transacted in physical gold with a US-based entity – to now do so through a Singapore-based entity (OCBC). Clients have increasingly expressed a growing desire not only to hold bullion locally but also to transact with Singapore-based entities amid heightened geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Two sizes of the gold bars – large bars (approximately 400 troy ounces or 12.4kg) and kilobars (1kg) – will be made available. Large bars are the global standard for international trade settlement. Kilobars are the preferred standard in Asian markets and is accepted for delivery in Commodity Exchange gold futures contracts in the United States. These gold bars are identifiable by serial-numbers and allocated to clients. This gives extra certainty versus an unallocated gold offering where clients have a stake in a pooled reserve, but do not own a specific bar.

Going forward, OCBC will continue to explore extending physical gold, as well as other physical gold-linked investment and hedging solutions, to additional segments across the Group. In doing so, the Bank hopes to support Singapore in strengthening its position as a trusted gold trading centre.

Ramping up OCBC’s Group-wide gold capabilities

This move into physical gold strengthens OCBC’s Group-wide gold proposition – an extension of the Group’s whole-of-wealth value proposition across banking, wealth management and insurance as part of its Next Frontier corporate strategy.

Besides physical gold, with the OCBC app, OCBC’s Singapore clients can invest in fractional gold or silver conveniently.

There is also the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold Fund. Launched last year by Lion Global Investors, OCBC’s asset management arm, it is the country’s first gold fund backed by physical gold, insured and securely vaulted in Singapore. Singapore’s first home-grown physical gold exchange-traded fund (ETF), the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold ETF, also made its listing debut on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in March 2026.

In addition, clients can gain exposure to physical gold bars through investment-linked policies offered by Great Eastern via the GreatLink Singapore Physical Gold Fund. As Singapore’s first physical gold investment-linked policy fund, it invests directly in the LionGlobal Singapore Physical Gold Fund.

In April 2026, the OCBC-LionGlobal Physical Gold Fund Token (“GOLDX token”), Southeast Asia’s first tokenised physical gold fund available on a public blockchain, was launched for institutional investors – including banks, hedge funds and asset managers – as well as corporate accredited investors.

Mr Jason Moo, CEO of Bank of Singapore, said, “Gold has long played a strategic role in wealth preservation, particularly for ultra-high-net-worth clients with long-term, intergenerational objectives. Amid market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, these clients are thinking more deeply about who they transact with, and where their gold is stored. By leveraging OCBC Group’s strengths, we will be able to deliver a secure, trusted and differentiated physical gold offering that addresses our clients’ risk concerns.”

Mr Kenneth Lai, Head of Global Markets, OCBC, said, “Our Singapore-based physical gold trading and custodian capabilities represent a strategic expansion of our market-making capabilities in precious metals. While we have started with private banking, over time we are looking to expand to institutional as well as other client segments, and offer them a comprehensive range of physical gold investment and hedging solutions.