The Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted the Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence required for the firm to operate a financial services business in the city-state, according to a statement from Lufax viewed by International Adviser’s sister publication Fund Selector Asia.
With the licence, Lu International (Singapore) Financial Asset Exchange will be able to provide offshore retail investors with online wealth management products and services, including securities trading and asset management.
The firm, which will offer investments via mobile devices with no face-to-face encounters, plans to make its Lu International platform live in the third quarter of this year.
Focus on Chinese offshore clients
The company hopes to attract middle-income offshore retail customers, according to a report by Singapore newspaper The Straits Times quoting chief executive Kit Wong.
“Under the terms of our CMS licence we’re an offshore platform, so we’ll be targeting primarily offshore investors”, said Wong. “We’re looking at investors with $20,000 to $30,000 (£22,945, €26,161)” to invest.
The company cannot cater to domestic Singapore investors, as its licence is an offshore one. For this reason, Lu International will initially offer simple fund products to Chinese customers with overseas assets, before targeting other overseas investors.
“Depending on the volume, we will then assess different markets such as Indonesia,” Wong confirmed.
Lufax Holdings, an online lending and wealth management platform backed by Chinese insurance firm Ping An Group, stated that it has around 31 million registered users in China.
