Statute Details
- Title: Financial Services and Markets (Prescribed Financial Institutions under Section 49) Regulations 2024
- Act Code: FSMA2022-S401-2024
- Type: Subsidiary legislation (SL)
- Enacting Authority: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Authorising Act: Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (FSMA 2022)
- Key Enabling Provisions: Section 192, read with section 219(zb), of FSMA 2022
- Commencement: 10 May 2024
- Legislation Number: SL 401/2024 (No. S 401)
- Status: Current version as at 27 Mar 2026
- Core Provisions:
- Section 2: Definitions
- Section 3: Prescribes “Type A” financial institutions
- Section 4: Prescribes “Type B” financial institutions
- Section 5: Prescribes “Type C” financial institutions
- Section 6: Revokes the 2020 MAS regulations
What Is This Legislation About?
The Financial Services and Markets (Prescribed Financial Institutions under Section 49) Regulations 2024 (“the Regulations”) is a MAS subsidiary instrument that designates which entities are “prescribed” for the purposes of section 49 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (“FSMA 2022”). In practical terms, it creates a classification framework—Type A, Type B, and Type C—by listing specific categories of financial institutions and market infrastructure providers.
Although the extract provided does not reproduce section 49 itself, the Regulations are clearly designed to operationalise FSMA 2022’s regulatory scheme by identifying the population of entities to which section 49 applies. Such “prescription” regulations are common in Singapore financial regulation: they translate broad statutory powers into concrete lists, ensuring that compliance obligations, reporting duties, or regulatory controls attach to the correct regulated persons.
The Regulations also reflect a consolidation and modernisation of Singapore’s financial regulatory perimeter. They cover banking, finance companies, merchant banking, insurance (including Lloyd’s and marine/aviation/transit insurers), capital markets services, collective investment schemes, trust companies, payment services, and market/benchmark infrastructure such as exchanges, clearing houses, trade repositories, and benchmark administrators/submitters. The classification by “Type” further suggests that section 49 differentiates compliance treatment depending on the entity’s nature and/or location (for example, Singapore-incorporated versus overseas-incorporated entities).
What Are the Key Provisions?
Section 1 (Citation and commencement) provides the formal name of the Regulations and states that they come into operation on 10 May 2024. For practitioners, this matters because it determines when the prescribed status takes effect and when regulated entities should align their internal compliance mapping to the updated lists.
Section 2 (Definitions) sets out cross-references to definitions in other statutes. In particular, it defines “designated financial holding company”, “licensed insurer”, and “merchant bank” by reference to their respective parent Acts. This drafting technique is important: it ensures that the prescription remains consistent with the statutory meaning in the underlying regulatory regimes, reducing the risk of interpretive divergence.
Section 3 (Type A financial institutions) is the most expansive list. It prescribes a broad set of entities as Type A for the purposes of section 49(5) of FSMA 2022. The list includes, among others: banks; finance companies licensed under the Finance Companies Act 1967; merchant banks; designated financial holding companies; approved exchanges; recognised market operators; licensed trade repositories and licensed foreign trade repositories; approved and recognised clearing houses; approved holding companies; authorised and exempt benchmark administrators; authorised/designated/exempt benchmark submitters; the Depository; holders of capital markets services licences; persons exempt from capital markets services licensing but carrying on regulated activities; trustees for authorised collective investment schemes (approved under the relevant FSMA 2001 provisions); licensed trust companies; licensed and exempt financial advisers; authorised reinsurers; members of Lloyd’s permitted under the Lloyd’s Asia Scheme; insurance agents and insurance brokers registered/regulated under the Insurance Act 1966; licensed insurers; approved MAT insurers; and operators/settlement institutions of designated payment systems and payment service providers licensed under the Payment Services Act 2019.
From a practitioner’s perspective, the key takeaway is that Type A is not limited to one sector. It is a “catch-all” category that includes both regulated entities and certain infrastructure/market participants, including benchmark and trade repository functions. It also captures both licensed and exempt persons (for example, exempt financial advisers and persons exempt from holding a capital markets services licence). This indicates that section 49’s compliance perimeter is intended to extend beyond only those holding licences, to include those operating under exemptions.
Section 4 (Type B financial institutions) prescribes a narrower set of entities as Type B. Notably, it includes: banks incorporated in Singapore; licensed insurers incorporated in Singapore; designated financial holding companies; operators/settlement institutions of designated payment systems; approved exchanges; licensed trade repositories; approved clearing houses; the Depository; and approved holding companies. The Singapore-incorporation qualifier appears explicitly for banks and licensed insurers, suggesting that Type B is intended to capture domestic-incorporated versions of certain regulated entities, while other cross-border or differently structured entities may fall into Type C.
Section 5 (Type C financial institutions) prescribes entities as Type C. It includes: banks incorporated outside Singapore; licensed insurers incorporated outside Singapore; merchant banks; finance companies licensed under the Finance Companies Act 1967; holders of capital markets services licences; trustees for authorised collective investment schemes; recognised market operators; licensed foreign trade repositories; recognised clearing houses; authorised/exempt benchmark administrators; authorised/designated/exempt benchmark submitters (with an important carve-out: they are Type C only if they are not Type B); licensed financial advisers; insurance brokers registered under the Insurance Act 1966; licensed trust companies; and payment service providers licensed under the Payment Services Act 2019.
The most legally significant drafting feature in Section 5 is the carve-out for benchmark submitters: benchmark submitters are Type C only if they are not Type B. This implies that some benchmark submitters may be captured by both the Type B and Type C lists depending on their status or structure, and the regulation resolves that overlap by excluding Type B entities from Type C.
Section 6 (Revocation) revokes the earlier MAS regulations: Monetary Authority of Singapore (Prescribed Financial Institutions under Section 40A) Regulations 2020 (G.N. No. S 637/2020). This indicates a legislative shift from a prior FSMA 2022 framework (or a predecessor provision) to the current section 49 regime. For compliance teams, revocation is a practical trigger: entity classifications should be reviewed against the 2024 lists rather than relying on the 2020 framework.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are structured as a short, functional instrument with six sections:
Section 1 sets out citation and commencement. Section 2 provides definitions by cross-reference. Sections 3 to 5 contain the operative lists prescribing Type A, Type B, and Type C financial institutions. Section 6 revokes the earlier 2020 regulations.
There are no “Parts” indicated in the extract, and the content is list-driven rather than policy-driven. This is typical for prescription regulations: the legal work is in identifying the relevant categories of regulated persons and infrastructure providers, leaving the substantive compliance obligations to the parent FSMA 2022 provisions.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The Regulations apply to entities that fall within the enumerated categories. Because the lists are extensive and include both licensing and exemption statuses, the practical scope is broad: banks, finance companies, merchant banks, designated financial holding companies, exchanges, market operators, clearing houses, trade repositories, benchmark administrators and submitters, the Depository, capital markets services licence holders and certain exempt persons, collective investment scheme trustees (approved under the relevant provisions), trust companies, financial advisers (licensed and exempt), reinsurers and insurance intermediaries, Lloyd’s members under the Lloyd’s Asia Scheme, and payment system operators/settlement institutions and payment service providers.
Additionally, the Type classification matters. Type B and Type C are differentiated—at least for banks and licensed insurers—by incorporation location (Singapore-incorporated versus outside Singapore). For benchmark submitters, the Type C list includes an explicit “not Type B” condition, indicating that the classification is designed to avoid double-counting and to allocate entities to the correct compliance category under section 49.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
Even though the Regulations themselves are short, they are legally significant because they determine who is within the scope of section 49 of FSMA 2022. In Singapore financial regulation, “prescribed financial institutions” designations often drive downstream obligations—such as regulatory reporting, governance requirements, risk management expectations, or other statutory duties. A practitioner should therefore treat this instrument as a compliance mapping document: it is the authoritative list for determining whether an entity is Type A, Type B, or Type C for section 49 purposes.
The Regulations also provide clarity across multiple regulatory regimes. By cross-referencing definitions in the Banking Act 1970, Finance Companies Act 1967, Financial Advisers Act 2001, Financial Holding Companies Act 2013, Futures Act 2001 (Securities and Futures Act 2001 in the extract), and the Payment Services Act 2019, the MAS ensures that the prescription aligns with existing licensing and regulatory categories. This reduces interpretive uncertainty and helps regulated entities maintain consistent regulatory classifications across different statutory frameworks.
Finally, the revocation of the 2020 regulations signals that the regulatory perimeter has been updated. For regulated entities and their counsel, this means that internal policies, regulatory registers, and compliance attestations should be reviewed to ensure they reflect the 2024 Type A/B/C lists. Where an entity previously relied on the 2020 “prescribed” status, the 2024 instrument may change the classification or capture additional categories (for example, through updated inclusion of payment services or benchmark-related roles).
Related Legislation
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2022
- Banking Act 1970
- Finance Companies Act 1967
- Financial Advisers Act 2001
- Financial Holding Companies Act 2013
- Futures Act 2001 (as referenced in the metadata; provisions in the extract refer to the Securities and Futures Act 2001)
- Payment Services Act 2019
- Insurance Act 1966
- Trust Companies Act 2005
- Securities and Futures Act 2001
- Insurance (Lloyd’s Asia Scheme) Regulations
- Insurance (Approved Marine, Aviation and Transit Insurers) Regulations
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Financial Services and Markets (Prescribed Financial Institutions under Section 49) Regulations 2024 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.