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Page 3 | Chapter 1

Directions

Directions ensure compliance by explaining specific instructions in detail to financial institutions or other specified persons. They have legal effect, meaning that the MAS can specify whether a contravention of a direction is a criminal offence.

Directions consist of the following:

• directives which primarily impose legally binding requirements on an individual financial institution or a specified person; and
• notices which primarily impose legally binding requirements on a specified class of financial institutions or persons.

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Page 29 | Chapter 2          

Types Of Representatives

The FAA provides for two classes of representatives – appointed and provisional.

(a) Appointed Representatives – They are persons who meet in full the entry and examination requirements prescribed by the MAS.

(b) Provisional Representatives – They are persons who meet the entry requirements, but who have not yet passed the relevant examinations. As a policy, they are given a grace period of three months to pass the requisite examinations.

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Page 286 | Chapter 7        Compliance With Guidelines

The standards set out in Part II are not mandatory in that failure by an insurer to comply with any of the standards shall not by itself render the insurer to be in breach of Notice No: MAS 302. However, the MAS expects insurers to observe the standards as set forth in this Part II.

The MAS may take into account a failure to comply with these standards in considering whether to:

(a) approve a new product;

(b) revoke the approval for a product; or

(c) issue directions for the withdrawal of a product.

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Page 432 | Chapter 10

The key changes to the Code include:

(a) Strengthening Core Investment Requirements for Schemes –

(i) Introducing a list of permissible investments for funds;

(ii) Strengthening safeguards on the use of financial derivatives and counterparty requirements;

(iii) Enhancing guidelines on securities lending activities;

(iv) Enhancing requirements for funds investing in structured instruments;

(b) Introducing New Guidelines for Specialised Fund Categories –

(i) Establishing new guidelines for funds which track an index;

(ii) Introducing the concept of weighted portfolio maturities for money market funds;

(c) Other Safeguards to Enhance Investor Protection –

(i) Standardising the methods used to calculate any performance fees imposed;

(ii) Introducing principles on the naming of funds (schemes); and

(iii) Prohibiting the use of simulated past performance data for disclosure of performance figures.

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Page 486 | Chapter 11      Workfare Training Support (WTS) Scheme

The WTS scheme is to complement the WIS scheme by encouraging older low-wage workers to undergo and complete training, so that they can take on more productive work, improve their employability and move out of low-wage employment.

Employers who send their low-wage workers for training can also claim higher absentee payroll of up to 95%, to cover the salaries of their low-wage workers when they are away for training.