If your company wishes to conduct regulated activities under the SFA, it must hold a CMS licence. Individuals conducting regulated activities on behalf of CMS licensees or exempt CMS entities (such as banks) need to be appointed as representatives.

These regulated activities are:

• Dealing in capital markets products
• Advising on corporate finance
• Fund management
• Real estate investment trust management
• Product financing
• Providing credit rating services
• Providing custodial services for securities
  
  

Capital markets products include securities, units in a collective investment scheme (CIS), over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, exchange-traded derivatives and spot foreign exchange for the purposes of leveraged foreign exchange trading.

Companies which may be required to hold a CMS licence include the below. Learn more about each type of entity for more information on what they do, and the different licensing exemptions available for the different regulated activities:

• broker-dealers (including securities-based crowdfunding (SCF) operators),
• corporate finance advisers,
• credit rating agencies,
• real estate investment trust (REIT) managers and
• fund managers

If you are interested in the application process, admission criteria and other related information for fund managers, please refer to Fund Management Licensing and Registration and the Guidelines on Licensing, Registration and Conduct of Business for Fund Management Companies.

When assessing an application for a CMS licence, MAS takes into account factors such as:

• Fitness and propriety of the applicant, its shareholders and directors.
• Track record and management expertise of the applicant and its parent company or major shareholders.
• Ability to meet the minimum financial requirements prescribed under the SFA.
• Strength of internal risk management and compliance systems.
• Business model/ plans and projections and the associated risks.

Your company will also need to appoint the following individuals:

• Minimum of 2 directors, at least one is resident in Singapore.
• Chief Executive Officer with least 10 years of relevant experience and is resident in Singapore.
• Minimum of 2 full-time Singapore-based individuals for each regulated activity (minimum of 3 for retail LFMC and REIT managers). Such individuals are required to be appointed as representatives under the SFA.

For information on the admission criteria for REIT managers, please refer to the Guidelines to All Holders of a Capital Markets Services Licence for Real Estate Investment Trust Management.

You can also look up the details of the financial resources requirement in the Notice SFA 04-N13 Risk Based Capital Adequacy Requirements for Holders of Capital Markets Services Licences.

If your company is applying for a CMS licence, your company should submit Form 1 under the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations (SF(LCB)R).

Applications must be submitted online . For assistance, please refer to the Help section. We no longer accept applications submitted via email. 

In addition, if you hire or appoint individuals to conduct a regulated activity under your licence, you have to appoint these individuals as an appointed or provisional representative for that regulated activity.

You can refer to Appointing a Representative for CMS Licensees or Exempt Financial Institutions for more information.

A non-refundable application fee of $1,000 is payable to the Authority for the submission of this application. The application fee is prescribed under regulation 6 of the Regulations.

For the lodgement fees for representatives appointed by the applicant, please refer to Appointing a Representative for CMS Licensees or Exempt Financial Institutions

MAS expects to take up to 6 months to review applications which are complete and by applicants that meet all admission criteria.

Applications may take longer if:

• the applicant does not fully meet relevant admission criteria,
• has unique and complex business models, or
• does not submit all necessary forms, information and documents in the initial application.

The applicant should also expect a longer review period if it makes significant changes to its initial application. MAS may require a fresh submission in such situations. 

An in-principle approval (IPA) is issued to successful applicants at the conclusion of our review process, and the applicant has up to 6 months to fulfil specified requirements for licensing or registration. As soon as the applicant meets these requirements, MAS will grant the licence or registration. MAS reserves the right to rescind the IPA if the applicant does not fulfil the requirements within the timeline, or if there are changes to the applicant’s business plan and/or key persons after IPA has been issued. At its discretion, MAS may extend the IPA by a further 3 months if there are strong reasons to do so.

There are two types of annual fees –

(i) annual fees for the CMS licence; and 

(ii) annual fees for the representatives appointed by the CMS licensee. 

The annual fee is the sum of the annual fees payable across all regulated activities of a CMS licensee.

For the annual fees for representatives appointed by the CMS licensee, please refer to Appointing a Representative for CMS Licensees or Exempt Financial Institutions.

The CMS licence is valid until:

• The licensee stops conducting all the regulated activities on the licence, and the licence is cancelled by MAS.
• The licence is revoked by MAS.
• The licence lapses in accordance with section 95 of the SFA .

All entities that are holding a CMS licence to conduct regulated activities are listed on the Financial Institutions Directory. Correspondingly, all entities that cease to hold a licence will be removed from the Financial Institutions Directory.

If your company already holds a CMS licence for certain regulated activities and wishes to add another SFA-regulated activity to the CMS licence, you should submit Form 5 under the SF(LCB)R.  There is a non-refundable application fee of S$500 payable via GIRO. The CMS licensee will also have to appoint individuals who conduct the additional regulated activity as its representatives. The CMS licensee and its representatives will have to comply with relevant capital and conduct requirements applicable to its regulated activities under the SFA.

If a CMS licensee also intends to provide financial advisory services to its customers, it will have to lodge a notification for commencement of business as an exempt financial adviser (using Form 26 under the Financial Advisers Regulations), and appoint the individuals who provide financial advisory services as its representatives. The exempt financial adviser and its financial advisory will have to comply with the relevant conduct requirements under the FAA .