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It’s not just money that Swiss banks have been hemorrhaging customers lately. As Swiss and other private banks increasingly shift asset protection and wealth management functions to subsidiaries in Singapore, another interesting piece of news was the recent opening of the Singapore Freeport.
Singapore Freeport is a state-of-the-art secure storage facility that operates in its own duty-free zone adjacent to Singapore’s Changi Airport. The largest such facility in the world (270,000 square feet to be exact) it provided wealthy collectors with tax-free storage for their valuables.
“When you go to a bank and rent a vault, no one knows what goes inside. It’s the same here,” says Alain Vandenboere, chairman and co-founder of Singapore Freeport. “They only need to give a code that indicates the broad nature of the item—gold, wine or painting. There is no value, no ownership, no inventory list—all details are confidential. We compare Geneva offer more privacy.”
Switzerland and neighboring Austria, home to the famous Das Safe, have generally been preferred jurisdictions for ‘offshore’ storage of valuables. For example the duty free port of Geneva was established in 1888. But regulations and pressure are encouraging Swiss operators to look elsewhere.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the majority shareholder is Natural Le Coultre, the largest art-storage and logistics operator at the Geneva Free Port. The new Singapore facility was planned by Swiss architects, Swiss engineers and Swiss security consultants.
Private rooms and vaults, flanked by seven-toned doors, line the corridors. Unlike the free-port facilities in Switzerland, however, which are simply secure warehouses, the Singapore Freeport sought to combine security and style. A massive vaulted sculpture titled “Cage Sans Frontieres,” (Cage Without Borders) spans the entire lobby.
Overall, the facility seems to be an excellent option for those looking to keep valuables in a safe and tax-neutral area.
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