Statute Details
- Title: Securities and Futures (Trading Venues for Derivatives Contracts in the United States of America) Regulations 2019
- Act Code: SFA2001-S133-2019
- Type: Subsidiary Legislation (sl)
- Authorising Act: Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289)
- Enacting Authority: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Enacting Powers: Sections 44(1) and 129N(1) of the Securities and Futures Act
- Commencement: 14 March 2019
- Key Provisions:
- Regulation 1: Citation and commencement
- Regulation 2: Purpose of Regulations
- Regulation 3: Exemption from section 7(1) of the Act (subject to conditions)
- Regulation 4: Prescribed facilities for section 129J(1)(a) of the Act
- Schedule: “Facilities” (US trading venues for derivatives contracts) prescribed for specified execution purposes
- Current Version: Current version as at 27 Mar 2026 (per the legislation portal status)
- Amendment History (as shown in the extract):
- 14 Mar 2019: SL 133/2019
- 27 Oct 2022: Amended by S 833/2022
- 30 Dec 2023: Amended by S 889/2023
What Is This Legislation About?
The Securities and Futures (Trading Venues for Derivatives Contracts in the United States of America) Regulations 2019 (“US Derivatives Trading Venues Regulations”) is a Singapore subsidiary legislative instrument designed to facilitate regulatory equivalence and cross-border market access for derivatives trading venues in the United States.
In plain terms, the Regulations implement an arrangement between MAS and the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The arrangement is intended to recognise that the regulatory requirements applied to operators of organised markets in Singapore are “comparable” to those applied to trading venues for derivatives contracts in the United States under the US Commodity Exchange Act. The Regulations then align Singapore’s licensing/recognition expectations with that equivalence framework.
Practically, the Regulations do two main things. First, they create an exemption from the general requirement that organised markets must be approved exchange or recognised market operators under section 7(1) of the Securities and Futures Act (“SFA”). Second, they prescribe certain US trading facilities as venues through which a “specified person” may execute “specified derivatives contracts” for the purposes of section 129J(1)(a) of the SFA.
What Are the Key Provisions?
Regulation 1 (Citation and commencement) is straightforward: it provides the legal name of the instrument and states that it comes into operation on 14 March 2019. For practitioners, this matters mainly for determining the start date of the exemption and the prescribed-facilities regime.
Regulation 2 (Purpose of Regulations) is the interpretive anchor. It states that the Regulations give effect to an arrangement between MAS and the US CFTC. The arrangement includes two reciprocal “comparability” statements: (i) the US CFTC recognises that Singapore’s requirements for organised market operators are comparable to US requirements for derivatives trading venues; and (ii) MAS recognises that US requirements are comparable to Singapore’s requirements for organised market operators.
Regulation 2 also clarifies the specific legislative mechanisms that follow from that arrangement. In particular, it identifies two targeted outcomes: (a) an exemption for persons establishing or operating US trading venues under and in accordance with the US Commodity Exchange Act from the requirement in section 7(1) of the SFA to be an approved exchange or recognised market operator before establishing or operating an organised market (or holding themselves out as doing so); and (b) the prescription of US trading venues as “facilities” on or through which a specified person may execute specified derivatives contracts for section 129J(1)(a) of the SFA.
Regulation 3 (Exemption from section 7(1) of the Act) is the core exemption provision. It begins with a general rule: despite section 7(1) of the SFA, and subject to the condition in paragraph (2), a person may establish or operate an organised market that is a facility set out in the Schedule, or hold itself out as operating such an organised market, without complying with section 7(1).
This exemption is not unconditional. The key condition is that no offer or invitation to exchange, sell or purchase any derivative contract, securities, or unit in a collective investment scheme is made on the organised market by or to a retail investor in Singapore. In other words, the exemption is designed to prevent retail investors in Singapore from directly accessing the exempted US organised market through offers or invitations made on that market.
Regulation 3(3) provides a compliance “deeming” mechanism. The condition is deemed satisfied if the business rules or listing rules of the organised market do not allow any offer or invitation to be made on the organised market by or to a retail investor in Singapore. This is important for operators and their counsel because it shifts the compliance focus to the formal rulebook architecture of the trading venue—i.e., whether the venue’s rules prohibit retail-directed offers/invitations into Singapore.
Regulation 3(4) defines “retail investor” by exclusion: it means a person other than an accredited investor, expert investor, or institutional investor. This definition is critical in advising on whether a particular counterparty qualifies for access and on how “offers or invitations” are characterised in practice.
Regulation 4 (Prescribed facilities for purposes of section 129J(1)(a) of the Act) complements the exemption. It provides that the facilities set out in the Schedule are prescribed as facilities on or through which a specified person may execute a specified derivatives contract for the purposes of section 129J(1)(a) of the SFA.
While the extract does not reproduce the Schedule contents, Regulation 4 makes clear that the Schedule is the operative list. For practitioners, the Schedule is therefore not merely descriptive; it is the legal gateway that determines which US trading facilities can be used for the execution pathway contemplated by section 129J(1)(a). In cross-border derivatives execution arrangements, the precise facility name and its inclusion in the Schedule can be determinative of regulatory permissibility.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are structured in a compact, functional way:
(1) Enacting provisions (Regulations 1 and 2) set out citation/commencement and the legislative purpose, including the MAS–US CFTC comparability arrangement.
(2) The exemption framework (Regulation 3) provides the legal basis for exempting certain US organised markets from the section 7(1) approval/recognition requirement, but only where the Schedule-listed facility is involved and where the retail investor restriction is satisfied (either directly or via the deemed-satisfaction rule based on business/listing rules).
(3) The prescribed-facilities mechanism (Regulation 4) links the Schedule to section 129J(1)(a) of the SFA, enabling execution by a “specified person” of “specified derivatives contracts” through or on those facilities.
(4) The Schedule lists the relevant “Facilities”. In practice, the Schedule is the most operationally important part because it determines which US trading venues are within the scope of both the exemption and the prescribed-facilities regime.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The Regulations primarily apply to persons who establish or operate organised markets that are facilities set out in the Schedule, and to specified persons who may execute specified derivatives contracts through those facilities under section 129J(1)(a) of the SFA.
For operators of US trading venues, the exemption in Regulation 3 is relevant where they would otherwise need to comply with section 7(1) of the SFA (approved exchange or recognised market operator status) before establishing or operating an organised market, or holding themselves out as doing so. The exemption is tailored to venues regulated under and in accordance with the US Commodity Exchange Act, consistent with the stated purpose in Regulation 2.
For Singapore-side market participants and intermediaries, Regulation 4 is relevant to the execution model. Counsel should treat the Schedule as a compliance checklist: if the execution venue is not prescribed, the section 129J(1)(a) pathway may not be available (depending on how the SFA defines “specified person” and “specified derivatives contract”).
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Regulations instrument is important because it operationalises regulatory cooperation between Singapore and the United States for derivatives market infrastructure. Without such subsidiary legislation, a US trading venue that functions as an organised market might face Singapore’s approval/recognition requirements under section 7(1) of the SFA before it could lawfully be established or operated (or held out) in Singapore’s regulatory context.
By providing a targeted exemption, the Regulations reduce friction for cross-border derivatives trading while maintaining investor protection guardrails. The retail investor restriction in Regulation 3 is the key investor-protection feature. It reflects a policy choice: even if a US venue is exempted from Singapore’s organised market approval regime, Singapore’s retail access concerns are addressed by preventing retail-directed offers or invitations made on or to the exempted organised market.
From an enforcement and compliance perspective, the deemed satisfaction mechanism (Regulation 3(3)) is particularly practical. It allows operators to structure compliance through business and listing rules that prohibit retail-directed offers/invitations into Singapore. However, counsel should not treat the deemed mechanism as a substitute for operational diligence. The rules must genuinely prevent the relevant offers/invitations, and market practices should align with the rulebook.
Finally, Regulation 4’s prescribed-facilities concept supports a predictable execution framework for specified persons. In derivatives transactions, the execution venue can be a regulatory fact. Being able to point to a Schedule-listed facility can be crucial in demonstrating that the execution arrangement falls within the statutory permission contemplated by section 129J(1)(a) of the SFA.
Related Legislation
- Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289) — in particular:
- Section 7(1) (approved exchange / recognised market operator requirement for organised markets)
- Section 129J(1)(a) (execution of specified derivatives contracts through prescribed facilities)
- Section 129N(1) (MAS’s power to make regulations for the relevant cross-border framework)
- Section 44(1) (general regulation-making power)
- United States Commodity Exchange Act — the US regulatory basis referenced for the comparability arrangement
- Futures Act — referenced in the metadata as part of the legislative context (as applicable in the platform’s classification)
- Timeline / Legislation amendments — amendments by S 833/2022 and S 889/2023 (as shown in the extract)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Securities and Futures (Trading Venues for Derivatives Contracts in the United States of America) Regulations 2019 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.