The London-to-Singapore relocation has gone from a niche career arc to a near-default option for senior finance professionals since the UK abolished the non-domicile tax regime on 6 April 2025. Two years on, the inquiry pattern at our front desk is unmistakable: equity partners, hedge fund managing directors, family-office CIOs and senior bankers are running the numbers, and the numbers point East.
This is a practical guide for the London finance professional contemplating a 2026 move to Singapore — pass route, salary thresholds, tax reset, family logistics and the corporate-side mechanics if the move is at director level. The numbers and rules below are stated as at 28 April 2026, with as-at dates flagged where they have just shifted.
For the broader relocation framework, our Singapore relocation guide for families sits alongside this piece.
Why London Finance is Looking at Singapore in 2026
The headline driver is tax. From 6 April 2025, the UK non-dom remittance basis was abolished and replaced with a four-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime — a much narrower window of foreign-income relief, after which UK residents are taxed on worldwide income. For the international London finance population (US partners at UK PE firms, Asian-source family-office principals, Middle-East-anchored bankers) the FIG four-year cap is the planning shock. Many had built lifetime UK residency assuming non-dom would continue.
The Singapore proposition for that population is simple: a top personal income tax rate of 24% on chargeable income above S$1,000,000 (per IRAS individual income tax rates, as at YA 2026); no capital gains tax; no inheritance tax; territorial taxation of foreign-source income (with the right structuring); and an Employment Pass framework that openly courts senior financial talent.
The salary uplift is real but not as dramatic as the tax differential. A Director-level London banker on £350,000 base + bonus typically sees the same or marginally higher gross in Singapore, but the after-tax retention can be 15-25 percentage points higher.
The Pass Route: EP, ONE Pass, or Tech.Pass
For a senior London finance hire, the relevant pass options are three.
Employment Pass (EP) — financial services
The default. Per the Ministry of Manpower’s EP eligibility page, the qualifying salary for a new Employment Pass in the financial services sector is S$6,200 per month from 1 January 2026, rising for older candidates on the COMPASS C1 sectoral benchmark. Most London finance hires comfortably clear the absolute floor; the harder test is the COMPASS C1 65th-percentile benchmark for senior PMETs in finance, which sits well above the floor.
For the full mechanics, see our EP guide and the COMPASS framework breakdown.
ONE Pass (Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass)
For the genuinely senior — the S$30,000+/month salary bracket or the candidates with outstanding-achievement profiles — the ONE Pass is the cleaner instrument. Five-year duration, multiple concurrent employers permitted, COMPASS-exempt, and a much lighter renewal burden. Many London partners and managing directors qualify on the salary criterion alone. See ONE Pass eligibility 2026.
Personalised Employment Pass (PEP)
For senior candidates who want flexibility between roles — for example, a London banker on garden leave who has accepted a Singapore role but is also weighing two competing offers — the PEP route can work. Note the PEP scheme has been narrowed; current applicant-eligibility salary thresholds and the residency obligation should be verified at the point of application via MOM.
For the EP-vs-PEP-vs-ONE-Pass decision frame, see our side-by-side comparison.
The Tax Reset: London to Singapore
The London-to-Singapore tax reset has three moving parts.
UK departure. A clean Statutory Residence Test (SRT) departure from the UK matters. For most London-resident finance professionals, this means leaving the UK with sufficient days outside (commonly fewer than 16 UK days in the first full tax year of non-residence) and breaking the “ties” — accommodation, work, family ties as defined by HMRC. Get this wrong and HMRC can claim back the year. A UK accountant should sign off on the departure date and the SRT scenario.
Singapore arrival. Per IRAS, an individual is a Singapore tax resident for a year of assessment if physically present in Singapore for at least 183 days in the calendar year, or for a continuous period of at least 183 days straddling two calendar years. Tax residency unlocks the personal allowances and resident progressive rates. The first-year rule is important: arrive in May 2026 and you may not clear 183 days for YA 2027 — work with your tax adviser on whether to elect for the multi-year residency rule.
Investment income. Singapore does not tax most foreign-source dividends, interest or capital gains received by individuals. UK ISA and pension wrappers do not have direct Singapore equivalents — the SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme) is the closest analogue, with limited contribution caps. Crypto held personally is not taxed in Singapore unless trading-as-a-business.
For broader expat tax mechanics, see our personal income tax guide for foreigners in Singapore.
The Family Logistics
The family side of the London-to-Singapore move runs on a tighter timeline than most realise. Six items typically determine landing-month sanity.
Schools. Tanglin Trust, Dulwich, UWCSEA, Stamford, ACS International and the Australian-curriculum schools in Singapore are routinely oversubscribed in the British/Commonwealth-curriculum stream. Waitlist conversations should start six to nine months before the move — not three. Our piece on Singapore schools for expats covers the curriculum landscape.
Spouse work rights. A spouse on a Dependant’s Pass cannot now work on a Letter of Consent — that route was closed for DP holders from 1 May 2021. The spouse needs their own EP, S Pass or Work Permit. See our Letter of Consent 2026 guide.
Housing. Singapore condo rentals reset every 1-2 years. The premium Districts 9, 10, 11 (Orchard, Bukit Timah) and District 1 (CBD) carry the highest rents. Expect S$8,000-15,000 per month for a three-bedroom in central districts, with S$5,000-9,000 for similar units in District 15 (East Coast) or District 21 (Bukit Timah West). The ABSD (Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty) on foreign property purchase remains punitive at 60%.
Banking. A Singapore corporate bank account for the new employer’s payroll, plus a personal SGD account for living expenses, both want set up early. A few of the global banks (HSBC, Standard Chartered) handle the cross-jurisdictional onboarding cleanly.
UK pension. Most London finance professionals have a UK SIPP or workplace pension. These are normally left in place; the QROPS overseas-transfer route is rarely the right answer for a Singapore mover. UK accountant input on contribution rules during the year of departure matters.
Driving. A UK driving licence converts to a Singapore one without re-test, but the conversion window matters — apply within the first 12 months of arrival.
Cost of Living: London vs Singapore in 2026
Singapore is more expensive than London in three categories — housing, schooling, vehicle ownership — and broadly comparable or cheaper in most others.
Vehicle ownership is in a category of its own: the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) for a typical mid-size sedan can sit at S$95,000-S$120,000 in 2026, on top of the car itself. Most newcomers spend their first year using Grab, MRT and the occasional rental rather than buying.
Schooling is the single largest delta for families: S$45,000-S$55,000 per child per year at the top international schools. Where the London family was using state or grammar schools, the Singapore international-school spend is a budget shock; the right way to size the package is at S$50,000 per child built in.
For the full numbers, see our cost of living for expats 2026.
The Director-Level Move: Corporate-Side Mechanics
For senior London finance professionals who are also directors, partners, or principals of UK entities, the move is not just a personal one. Three corporate-side questions arise.
One: should the candidate set up a Singapore Pte Ltd to receive consulting income, family-office income or external advisory fees? For partner-level candidates, the answer is often yes — but the IRAS substance and tax-residency-of-company analysis matters. Our sister firm Raffles Corporate Services handles the incorporation and ACRA mechanics.
Two: where does the candidate’s UK partnership profit-share land in their first year of Singapore residency? UK LLP partnership income is generally treated by IRAS as employment-equivalent for residents, but the timing of the profit allocation and the UK-Singapore double-tax-treaty relief sequencing should be modelled before the move.
Three: does the move trigger a UK exit charge on capital gains? Generally no for non-business assets, but for shareholders of UK-resident close companies, the temporary non-residence rules require careful navigation.
The PR Question
The London finance population is well-positioned for Singapore PR. Per ICA’s holistic assessment criteria, salary, age, family ties, and length of residence are all favourable for senior bankers. Realistic timelines: 2-3 years on EP/ONE Pass before a defensible PR application, with approval rates highest in the S$15,000-25,000 monthly salary band.
For the full pathway, see our Singapore PR pathway guide and approval odds by salary band.
Conclusion
The London-to-Singapore move in 2026 is a tax reset, a family logistics exercise, and a career-arc decision wrapped into one. The non-dom abolition has changed the calculus for an entire cohort of senior London finance professionals; most who run the numbers find the Singapore proposition compelling, but the execution risk sits in the SRT departure, the COMPASS scoring, the family logistics window, and the corporate-side mechanics for partners and directors.
If you are a London finance professional weighing this move, our team at Singapore Employment Agency (the consumer brand of Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd, MOM Licence 19C9790) handles the EP, ONE Pass or PEP application end-to-end. For the corporate side — Singapore Pte Ltd incorporation, family-office set-up, ACRA filings — we work directly with our sister firm Raffles Corporate Services.
— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency