Statute Details
- Title: Financial Services and Markets (Information Sharing Scheme for Prescribed Financial Institutions) Regulations 2024
- Act Code: FSMA2022-S238-2024
- Type: Subsidiary Legislation (SL)
- Authorising Act: Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (FSMA 2022)
- Enacting power: Section 192 of the FSMA 2022
- Commencement: 1 April 2024
- Key provisions (in the extract):
- Regulation 1: Citation and commencement
- Regulation 2: Definition of “prescribed financial institution” (banks in Singapore)
- Regulation 3: Definition of “relevant party” (persons connected to relevant accounts/services/transactions)
- Prescribed institutions (banks in Singapore): Citibank N.A. (Singapore branches/offices), Citibank Singapore Limited, DBS Bank Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (Singapore branches/offices), HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited, United Overseas Bank Limited
- Made by: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Date made: 14 March 2024
- Legislative reference: [MAS/AMLD0002/2024; AG/LEGIS/SL/110B/2020/13 Vol. 1]
What Is This Legislation About?
The Financial Services and Markets (Information Sharing Scheme for Prescribed Financial Institutions) Regulations 2024 (“Information Sharing Scheme Regulations 2024”) are subsidiary legislation made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (“FSMA 2022”). In plain terms, these Regulations identify which financial institutions are “prescribed” for the purposes of an information sharing scheme under the FSMA 2022, and they define who counts as a “relevant party” in relation to those institutions.
The practical effect is that, for the specified banks in Singapore, the FSMA 2022’s information sharing framework can be triggered in relation to particular categories of persons—typically those who hold or have held relevant accounts, those who receive or have received certain advisory services, and those on whose behalf certain transactions are carried out (including where no relevant account is opened). This is designed to support regulatory and enforcement objectives, including the ability to obtain and share information efficiently where there are concerns about financial crime, compliance, or other regulated risks.
Although the Regulations themselves are short, they are important because they “turn on” the FSMA 2022 scheme for specific institutions and specify the universe of persons whose information may be relevant under the statutory framework. For practitioners, the key work is mapping these definitions onto the underlying FSMA 2022 provisions (including sections 28B and 28C referenced in the Regulations) and understanding how “relevant account” and “transaction” are defined.
What Are the Key Provisions?
Regulation 1 (Citation and commencement) is straightforward: it provides the short title and states that the Regulations come into operation on 1 April 2024. This commencement date matters for compliance timelines and for determining whether the scheme applies to events occurring before or after that date.
Regulation 2 (Definition of “prescribed financial institution”) is the core “scope” provision. It prescribes, for the purposes of section 28C(a) of the FSMA 2022, each of the listed banks in Singapore to which Part 4A of the FSMA 2022 applies. The Regulations expressly include both (i) Singapore entities (e.g., Citibank Singapore Limited, DBS Bank Ltd., HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UOB) and (ii) branches and offices located within Singapore of certain foreign banks (e.g., Citibank N.A. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited).
From a legal and compliance perspective, this distinction is significant. Branches and offices located within Singapore are treated as prescribed “banks in Singapore” for the scheme, even though the head office is outside Singapore. Practitioners advising multinational banking groups should therefore confirm the precise legal entity and the operational footprint in Singapore, because the Regulations attach to “branches and offices … located within Singapore” for certain institutions.
Regulation 3 (Definition of “relevant party”) defines who is a “relevant party” in relation to a prescribed financial institution that is a bank in Singapore. This definition is expansive and is structured around categories of persons connected to: (a) relevant accounts, (b) financial advisory services, (c) corporate finance advice, and (d) transactions (including wire transfers and value transfers), with special coverage for situations where a relevant account is not opened.
Under Regulation 3(1), the following persons are prescribed as relevant parties:
- Account-related persons: any person the bank has opened (or previously opened) a “relevant account” for, or any person who requests the bank to open such an account—regardless of whether the account is actually opened; and any person the bank maintains (or previously maintained) a relevant account for.
- Financial advisory service recipients/requesters: any person to whom the bank provides (or previously provided) any financial advisory service (as defined in the Financial Advisers Act 2001) or any person who requests the bank to provide such a service—again, regardless of whether the service is actually provided.
- Corporate finance advice recipients/requesters: any person to whom the bank advises (or previously advised) on corporate finance (as defined in the Securities and Futures Act 2001) or any person who requests the bank to provide such advice—regardless of whether the advice is actually provided.
- Transaction principals where no relevant account is opened: any person on whose behalf the bank carries out a transaction, for whom the bank has not opened a relevant account.
- Transaction requesters where no relevant account is opened: any person who requests the bank to carry out a transaction, for whom the bank does not open a relevant account—regardless of whether the bank actually carries out the transaction.
- Historical transaction principals where no relevant account was opened: any person on whose behalf the bank previously carried out a transaction, for whom the bank did not open a relevant account.
Regulation 3(2) then supplies key definitions that practitioners will need to interpret the scheme correctly:
- “Relevant account” means an account held in the name of the person, whether or not the account is held jointly with any other person. This means joint account holders are within scope as “relevant parties” for the named account holder(s).
- “Transaction” means a wire transfer or value transfer.
- “Value transfer” and “wire transfer” have the meanings given by section 28B of the FSMA 2022. Practitioners should therefore consult section 28B to confirm the statutory definitions, which may be broader than colloquial understandings.
Two drafting features are particularly noteworthy for legal analysis. First, the Regulations include persons who request the bank to open an account or provide a service, even if the bank does not in fact open the account or provide the service. This “request-based” coverage can expand the set of persons whose information may become relevant, for example during onboarding attempts or pre-contract discussions. Second, the Regulations cover transaction-related persons even where no relevant account exists, ensuring that the scheme is not circumvented by structuring transactions without opening accounts.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are structured as a short instrument with a conventional layout:
- Part/Section framework: The extract indicates no separate “Parts”; instead, it contains a small number of numbered regulations.
- Regulation 1: Citation and commencement.
- Regulation 2: Definition of “prescribed financial institution” (listing the banks and specifying that they are banks in Singapore to which Part 4A of the FSMA 2022 applies).
- Regulation 3: Definition of “relevant party” (enumerating categories of persons and providing definitions for “relevant account” and “transaction”).
Although the Regulations do not themselves describe the operational mechanics of the information sharing scheme, they are clearly designed to work in tandem with the FSMA 2022 provisions—particularly sections 28B and 28C—by supplying the key definitional “switches” that determine when and for whom the scheme applies.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
In terms of institutions, the Regulations apply to the specified banks in Singapore listed in Regulation 2. This includes both locally incorporated banks and foreign banks’ Singapore branches/offices. The scheme is therefore institution-specific: it does not automatically apply to all financial institutions, but to those that are “prescribed” under the FSMA 2022 framework.
In terms of persons, the Regulations apply to a broad set of individuals and entities that fall within the definition of “relevant party” in relation to those banks. This includes account holders (including joint account holders), persons connected to advisory services (including requesters), and persons connected to wire/value transfers (including transaction principals and requesters even where no relevant account is opened). Practitioners should therefore treat the definition as covering both existing relationships and prospective or attempted relationships (through the inclusion of requesters and “whether or not” qualifiers).
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Regulations instrument is important because it operationalises a statutory information sharing scheme by specifying (i) which banks are covered and (ii) which categories of persons are “relevant parties.” In practice, these definitions affect how banks design compliance processes, record-keeping, and internal escalation pathways. Even where the detailed information sharing procedures are contained in the FSMA 2022 itself, the Regulations determine the population of institutions and persons that will be captured.
For compliance and legal teams, the “request-based” and “no relevant account” coverage can have real consequences. For example, during onboarding or transaction initiation, banks may need to ensure that they can identify whether a person is a relevant party and whether the person’s information may fall within the scheme’s scope. Similarly, transaction flows that do not involve opening accounts (or where accounts are not opened) still bring transaction principals and requesters within the definition, which may require careful mapping of payment instructions, beneficial ownership/agency relationships, and transaction documentation.
From an enforcement and litigation risk perspective, definitional clarity is critical. If a bank misclassifies whether an institution is a prescribed financial institution (e.g., confusion about branches/offices) or misidentifies whether a person is a relevant party (e.g., failing to treat a requester as within scope), it could affect the bank’s ability to comply with statutory obligations and could become relevant in regulatory investigations or disputes about information handling.
Related Legislation
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (FSMA 2022), including sections 28B and 28C and Part 4A (information sharing scheme framework)
- Financial Advisers Act 2001 (definition of “financial advisory service” referenced in Regulation 3(1)(c))
- Securities and Futures Act 2001 (definition of “corporate finance” referenced in Regulation 3(1)(d))
- Markets Act 2022 (listed in the statute metadata as related legislation; practitioners should confirm any cross-references in the FSMA 2022 scheme provisions)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Financial Services and Markets (Information Sharing Scheme for Prescribed Financial Institutions) Regulations 2024 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.