In response to The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s letter to The Straits Times on 15 May 2013 “MAS explains need for exam” and Business Times article “Module 6A: issues still unresolved as deadline nears” on 12 June 2013, the Securities Association of Singapore is pleased to inform customers on the unified solution to be adopted by its members should they wish to deal in Specified Investment Products (SIPs) where their trading representatives have not attempted or passed the Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services (CMFAS) Module 6A examination from 1 July 2013.

The collective approach is to give SIP-qualified customers the option to decide:-

(a) To self-execute their orders through an electronic platform; and/or

(b) Communicate with a qualified representative who has passed the CMFAS M6A examination to follow up on their SIPs-related dealing needs.

A trading representative must pass the CMFAS M6A examination in order to deal in any SIPs for his or her clients. Examples of SIPs include certain securities, covered warrants, exchange-traded funds or extended settlement contracts.

A representative is not allowed to deal in SIP orders for his or her customers till he/she passes the CMFAS M6A examination. Such representatives (referred to as EIP-Qualified) are confined to dealing in Excluded Investment Products (EIPs) which include corporate shares or stocks and REITs listed on Singapore Exchange or approved foreign exchanges such as HKSE, Bursa Malaysia, NYSE or LSE etc.

Where the customer is presently serviced by an EIP-Qualified representative, the customer will be duly informed. If the customer still wishes assistance, he/she will be redirected to a qualified representative to handle his/her SIP dealing and dealing-related needs or be given contact particulars of the designated qualified representative for the customer to call directly.