Singapore Steps up Efforts to Attract Fund Houses
February 20, 2009, Asian Investor

Asian Investor featured an article about the tax incentives Singapore included in its 2009 budget, in an effort to continue to attract investment funds to the country.

"What the Singapore government has done is simplify the tax rules for funds even more," says Sharon Hartline, a partner at White & Case in Hong Kong. "This is certainly something that will help make Singapore more attractive to fund managers, particularly managers of hedge funds and private equity funds, but whether or not this will translate into many more fund managers and funds locating there, given the current market conditions, remains to be seen."

Linda Ng, counsel in White & Case's Asia-Pacific Tax Group, says the changes will allow resident investors the same freedom as non-resident investors.

"This gives fund managers of hedge funds and private equity funds more room to raise funds from a pool of investors because they will no longer have to worry about limits," Ng says.