Recommended Brokerages in Singapore: Which Broker for Stocks, Forex and Crypto, Checked for 2026
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By Spencer Li, CFTe · Last updated: 26 October 2026
For buying stocks and ETFs from many countries in one account, I would still start with Interactive Brokers, mainly for its low commissions. Saxo, Tiger Brokers and moomoo are the other three brokers I would look at, and for buying coins directly, a crypto exchange holding a MAS licence, such as Gemini. All five hold a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore as at October 2026, which I checked this month on MAS’s own directory. The right pick depends far more on what you trade than on the brand, so the sections below sort them by product, with each licence and each fee dated.
I first published this list in August 2021. This month I checked every licence and every fee again against the broker’s own page and MAS’s, and cut anything I could not check.
Which question should you ask before you open any account?
In January 2022, a trader on Reddit’s r/singaporefi asked: “Which broker is safe for me to use?” They were choosing between Interactive Brokers and Tiger, and I think they asked the right question first. Fees come second. A cheap broker you cannot get your money out of is the most expensive broker there is.
The check takes about a minute. Search the broker’s name on the MAS Financial Institutions Directory, and look at two things. First, the exact company name, because a global brand often runs a separate Singapore company, and that company is the one holding the licence. Second, the list of activities under the licence, because a licence covers some products and not others.
Here is what the directory showed for the five, read on 27 October 2026.
| Broker | Singapore company | MAS licence | Leveraged forex in the licence? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | Interactive Brokers Singapore Pte. Ltd. | Capital Markets Services licence | Yes |
| Saxo | Saxo Capital Markets Pte. Ltd. | Capital Markets Services licence | Yes |
| Tiger Brokers | Tiger Brokers (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Capital Markets Services licence | No, it lists securities, funds and exchange-traded derivatives |
| moomoo | Moomoo Financial Singapore Pte. Ltd. | Capital Markets Services licence, plus a Major Payment Institution licence for crypto | Yes |
| Gemini | Gemini Digital Payments Singapore, Pte. Ltd. | Major Payment Institution licence for crypto and cross-border transfers | Not a broker for forex |
That last column surprises people. Tiger’s licence, as MAS lists it, does not cover leveraged forex, so the same app that suits a Singapore share buyer is the wrong place to look for currency trading.
While you are on the MAS site, the Investor Alert List is worth a search too. It names firms that MAS thinks people may wrongly take to be licensed, and a broker that shows up there and not in the directory is a firm to walk away from.
If you would rather spend your time on trading than on broker comparisons, my free 15-minute swing trader checklist is the daily routine I use myself.
Which broker should you use for stocks, ETFs and REITs?
Commission tables work a bit like budget airline fares. The headline number is rarely the number you pay, because the extras sit one line further down.
These are the standard rates each broker’s own Singapore page showed on 27 October 2026, before exchange and regulatory fees.
| Broker | US stocks | Singapore stocks |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers, Fixed plan | USD 0.005 a share, minimum USD 1, capped at 1% of the trade | 0.08% of the trade, minimum SGD 2.50 |
| Saxo | From USD 1 | From SGD 3 |
| Tiger Brokers | USD 0.005 a share, minimum USD 0.99, plus a platform fee of USD 0.005 a share, minimum USD 1 | 0.03%, minimum SGD 0.99, plus a platform fee of 0.03%, minimum SGD 1, plus SGX’s own fees |
| moomoo | Zero commission advertised, with a note that other fees apply | Zero commission for the first year, new users only |
To see why the extras matter, take a buy of 100 shares of a US stock at USD 50 a share. At Interactive Brokers, 100 times USD 0.005 is 50 cents, so the USD 1 minimum applies and you pay a dollar. At Tiger, the commission and the platform fee each hit their own minimum, which comes to USD 1.99. Neither number will break anyone, but the gap is nearly double, on every trade.
In August 2021 I wrote that I would recommend Interactive Brokers for stocks “for its low commissions”, and that I find it “slightly less user-friendly”. The fee table above still backs the first half of that. I should also concede a point. As at October 2026, moomoo advertises zero commission on US stocks, which beats the Interactive Brokers sticker price outright, so a trader who only buys US shares now and then may pay less there. Read the asterisk before you assume the whole trade is free.
If you are wondering what brokerage, software & tools to use, also check out: “Best Tools & Resources for Your Trading & Investing”
Saxo prices in three tiers, from Classic up to VIP, and its page says Singapore residents pay no custody fee on SGX stocks and ETFs. Other holdings can carry one, so check the custody line before you move a large portfolio across.
One more question for Singapore shares in particular. Ask whether the broker holds them in a custodian account in its own name or in your own CDP account. moomoo, for one, runs its CDP account as a separate account from its main one. Neither setup is wrong. You just want to know which one you have before you need to move the shares.
Which broker should you use for forex, CFDs and commodities?
Forex brokers compete so hard on price that, for most retail traders, the spreads end up quite close. That was true when I wrote the first version of this list in 2021, and it is why the regulator matters more than the rate.
My advice then was to pick a broker regulated by an established regulator, such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, or MAS, and I would still give it today. In Singapore, the licence to look for is a Capital Markets Services licence that lists leveraged foreign exchange trading. In October 2026, Interactive Brokers, Saxo and moomoo all had it in their MAS listing, and Tiger did not.
Leverage works both ways. The same borrowed money that doubles a small move in your favour doubles it against you, which is why I treat the regulator check as the first filter and the spread as the last.
Building a routine around this takes less time than most people think, and the free 15-minute swing trader checklist is the one I run every day.
How should you buy crypto in Singapore?
Crypto is the one corner where the word broker gets slippery. An exchange that holds your coins is a different business from a broker that holds your shares, and in Singapore MAS licenses it differently too.
If you want to own coins directly, use an exchange that MAS has licensed for digital payment token services. As at October 2026, Gemini’s Singapore company holds a Major Payment Institution licence that covers digital payment tokens, and so does moomoo’s. Both were in the MAS directory when I checked on 27 October 2026.
If you would rather not hold coins yourself, some brokers list funds and ETFs that track crypto. Check what your account type is allowed to buy before you plan around one, because access to these products can differ between countries and account types.
Should you keep all your money with one broker?
Engineers have a name for a system where one broken part stops everything. They call it a single point of failure.
A single broker account is exactly that. An app can go down on the one busy day you need it, or a review of your account can freeze it while you send in documents. Two accounts at two licensed brokers turn that from a crisis into an inconvenience. The second account does not need to be large. It just needs to be open, funded and tested, before the day you need it.
FAQ
Which broker is best for beginners in Singapore?
The one that holds the right MAS licence for what you trade and that you will actually use. For a mix of markets, Interactive Brokers is where I would start. For Singapore shares only, Tiger and moomoo are simpler apps.
Does Interactive Brokers hold a MAS licence?
Yes. Interactive Brokers Singapore Pte. Ltd. holds a Capital Markets Services licence, as listed in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory when I checked on 27 October 2026.
Can I trade forex with Tiger Brokers in Singapore?
Its Capital Markets Services licence, as MAS listed it in October 2026, covers securities, funds and exchange-traded derivatives. Leveraged forex is not on that list.
Is moomoo really commission-free?
For US stocks it advertises zero commission, with a note that other fees apply. For Singapore stocks, the zero commission was for new users and lasted one year, as at October 2026.
How do I check if a broker is regulated in Singapore?
Search the company on the MAS Financial Institutions Directory and read the activities under its licence. Then search the name on the MAS Investor Alert List.
Are my shares held in my own name?
It depends on the broker and the account. Ask whether your Singapore shares sit in your own CDP account or in the broker’s custodian account before you buy.
Which broker are you using now, and what made you pick it? Let me know in the comments.
If you are opening an Interactive Brokers account, I walk through every screen in how to open an IBKR account in Singapore. Once the account is open, my free trading guides cover what to do with it, and if you are investing for the long run, how much you must save to have $1M at retirement puts a monthly number on it.
If you would rather go with one of the other three, these are my links: Saxo (referral link), Tiger Brokers (referral link) and moomoo (referral link). If you open an account through one of them, Synapse may earn a referral reward. The comparison above was written from each broker’s own page and MAS’s directory, and none of the three reviewed it.
And if you want a trading routine that takes 15 minutes a day, whichever broker you pick, grab the free 15-minute swing trader checklist.
About the author. Spencer Li is The 15-Minute Trader and the founder of Synapse Trading. He is a Certified Financial Technician (CFTe) with 15+ years of trading, run from 70+ countries. He holds a B.Acc and B.BM from SMU. Every trade he takes is public, dated, losses left in. He teaches rules-based swing trading in 15 minutes a day, one system for any market.
Education, not financial advice. Synapse Trading is not licensed by MAS to advise on investment products. Trading carries risk of loss, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
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Educational content only, not personalised financial advice. Trading carries risk, including loss of capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Synapse Trading is not licensed or regulated by MAS.
