On September 22, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued its response to feedback received (MAS Response) on its “Consultation Paper on Proposals to Enhance Regulatory Safeguards for Investors in the Capital Markets” issued on July 21, 2014 (Consultation)1. The MAS Response can be found here.
The MAS Response sets out comments from the MAS on policy proposals in Parts I and III of the Consultation (Proposals). The MAS is still studying the feedback on proposals in Part II of the Consultation. The MAS will issue a separate response on the necessary legislative amendments to implement the Proposals and these will be tabled for Parliament in 2016.
This briefing provides a summary of the MAS Response. The key Proposals that will be implemented are:
- Investors in nonconventional investment products that are in substance capital markets products will be accorded the same regulatory safeguards as investors in capital markets products.
- Investors who meet prescribed wealth or income thresholds to qualify as accredited investors (AIs)2may choose whether to be treated as an AI or as a retail investor.
Summary of the MAS Response
Regulating nonconventional investment products |
|
Proposal |
Summary |
Regulating buy-back arrangements involving Precious Metals as debentures |
|
Regulating collectively managed investment schemes as collective investment schemes (CISs) |
|
Refinements to nonretail investor classes, new opt-in/opt-out regime for AIs |
|
Proposal |
MAS Response |
New opt-in regime for AIs |
|
Refinement of the eligibility criteria for AIs |
|
Amending definition of institutional investor3class |
|
Expert investor4 class |
|