Financial Advisers Act (FAA) & FA Regulations — Advisers & Representatives

Concept

The Financial Advisers Act (FAA) is the statute that governs who may provide financial advisory services in Singapore and how they must conduct themselves. It operates on two levels: it licenses the firm (the financial adviser, or "FA") and it regulates the individuals (the representatives) who actually deal with clients. The whole architecture exists so that only fit-and-proper persons — vetted for honesty, competence and financial soundness — are allowed to advise the retail public on regulated investment products, and so that MAS has a clear line of accountability running from the client, up through the representative, to the principal firm that must supervise them.

Key rules & facts

• A financial advisory service covers four broad activities: (a) advising others on investment products; (b) issuing or promulgating analyses/reports on investment products; (c) marketing collective investment schemes (CIS); and (d) arranging life policies (other than for reinsurance). Advice given through a general publication available to the public, or given only to your own related corporations, is generally excluded.
• Investment products include life policies, units in a CIS, securities, structured deposits, spot/leveraged foreign exchange for retail, and other prescribed products (verify: exact current list under the FAA).
• The firm may be a Licensed FA (holds an FA licence granted by MAS) or an Exempt FA. Exempt FAs — banks, merchant banks, finance companies, insurers registered under the Insurance Act, and holders of a Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence — are exempt from the requirement to *hold an FA licence* because they are already regulated elsewhere, but they remain fully bound by the FAA conduct-of-business rules.
• Representatives act on behalf of an FA. Common categories are appointed (the standard, ongoing status), provisional (new entrants who may act under conditions for a limited window while completing requirements), and temporary (short, defined-duration appointments) (verify: exact permitted durations/conditions).
• The Public Register of Representatives, maintained by MAS, lists every individual entitled to act. A person may only act once entered on the Register, and members of the public can look up a representative's status and the products they are authorised to deal in.
• Fit and proper rests on three limbs (verify: Guidelines on Fit and Proper Criteria, FSG-G01): honesty, integrity and reputation; competence and capability; and financial soundness.
• Appointment, notification and cessation are the principal FA's responsibility: the FA lodges the appointment with MAS, notifies MAS of cessation or material changes, and the individual's authority lapses on cessation (verify: notification window, commonly cited as 14 days).
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is required annually to keep skills and regulatory knowledge current (verify: minimum hours and any mandatory ethics/rules/skills-based component).

Key data

Exam angle

Mostly recall — the four limbs of "financial advisory service," the licensed-vs-exempt distinction, the representative categories, the three fit-and-proper limbs, and who maintains the Register (MAS). Expect some "can this person act now?" situationals, which almost always turn on two things: Register entry and the category/conditions of appointment.