RES 1B tests how a company gets onto SGX-ST and what it must do once there: the Mainboard and Catalist admission criteria, the IPO timeline, sponsors, moratoria, continuing obligations and SGX-ST enforcement. It then adds the securities-only conduct rules a dealer applies daily: hawking under SFA s.309, short-sell marking and reporting, buying-in and specified products lending. Most exam traps are Mainboard-versus-Catalist number swaps.
8 sections·~4 min read
✓Checked against the IBF RES 1B Study Guide v1.1 (Nov 2024) 1.2.2, 1.4, 3.10, 3.11, 2026-09-22. Unofficial prep, not endorsed by MAS or SCI.
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Must-know for the exam
✓Mainboard quantitative tests (one of): pre-tax profit ≥ S$30m in the latest year + 3-year track record; profitable + market cap ≥ S$150m + 3-year track record; operating revenue + market cap ≥ S$300m.
✓Catalist: no quantitative criteria; a full sponsor authorised by SGX-ST assesses suitability, and a continuing sponsor must be retained for as long as the company is listed.
✓Shareholder spread: Mainboard 25% held by ≥ 500 shareholders (market cap < S$300m; 12–20% above that); Catalist 15% of post-invitation capital in public hands and ≥ 200 shareholders.
✓Independent directors: at least 2 on both boards; foreign issuers need 2 Singapore-resident IDs on the Mainboard, 1 on Catalist.
✓Promoter moratorium: Mainboard profit test 6 months; market-cap test 6 months then 50% for 6 more. Catalist 6 months then up to 50% for 6 more; MOG promoters 12 months then up to 50% for 6 more.
✓Pre-IPO investors (shares bought within 12 months before IPO): profit portion locked 6 months on the Mainboard (holders ≥ 5%), 12 months on Catalist.
✓Documents: Mainboard prospectus lodged on MAS OPERA (minimum 7 days' exposure); Catalist offer document lodged with SGX-ST as MAS's agent on Catalodge (at least 14 days for public comment).
✓Timeline: Mainboard Section (A) review 4–6 weeks, Section (B) + MAS pre-lodgement about 4 weeks, research blackout 2 weeks, OPERA ≥ 7 days, launch 1–2 weeks. Catalist pre-admission review 2–4 weeks, exposure 2 weeks, launch 1–2 weeks.
✓Mainboard public subscription tranche: at least 5% of the securities offered or S$50m in value, whichever is lower (Rule 233A(1)); Catalist has none.
✓Shareholder approval for acquisitions and disposals: Mainboard 20% of the benchmarks; Catalist 75% (acquisition) or 50% (disposal).
✓General meeting notice: 14 days for ordinary resolutions, 21 days for special resolutions; all resolutions voted by poll; meetings held in Singapore.
✓SFA s.309 hawking: no offers of securities, SBDCs or CIS units at an unsolicited meeting, unless the offer needs no prospectus (e.g. s.304 institutional, s.305 accredited investors).
Why this matters in the exam
•The listing questions are almost all comparisons: Mainboard against Catalist, promoter against pre-IPO investor, prospectus against offer document. If you learn the two admission tables side by side, most of the items become recall.
•The securities-only conduct rules (hawking, short selling, buying-in, lending) are the RES 1B material that RES 2B candidates do not see. Expect scenario stems.
Getting listed: process and timeline
•RES 1B 1.4.1–1.4.2: the company appoints an issue manager, usually a bank or financial institution with a CMS licence to advise on corporate finance. On the Mainboard the issue manager acts as sponsor, lodges the application and deals with SGX-ST. It may first file a pre-consultation on issues affecting eligibility.
•The Mainboard submission comes in two stages, in order. Section (A) covers the company and key issues, and SGX-ST reviews it in 4–6 weeks if nothing is material. Section (B) goes in with the full listing application and prospectus. Its review, alongside MAS's pre-lodgement review of the draft prospectus, takes about 4 weeks. A 2-week research blackout, if any, follows. The prospectus then goes on MAS OPERA for at least 7 calendar days, registration and launch take 1–2 weeks, and trading begins.
•Catalist runs through a full sponsor. The sponsor submits the pre-admission notification with the full application and offer document. SGX-ST's review takes 2–4 weeks, public exposure on the SGX-ST website 2 weeks, and registration and launch 1–2 weeks.
•Trap: MAS reviews the draft prospectus for the Mainboard; for Catalist, SGX-ST receives the offer document as MAS's agent.
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