If your company appears on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Investor Alert List, MAS has information suggesting that the company may be, or may have been, wrongly perceived as licensed, authorised or regulated by MAS. It can also mean that an investment the company offered may have been wrongly perceived as authorised, recognised or registered with MAS. MAS has said that being on the list does not necessarily mean the company has breached any MAS regulation. In practice, though, banks, payment providers, investors and business partners check the list, and a listing usually signals that the company’s activities or marketing need urgent attention. The right response is to find out why, stop anything that could need a licence, correct how the company presents itself, and take legal advice before contacting MAS.
Treat the listing as a warning, and act on it now. MAS says that where fraud or other breaches of the law are suspected, the appropriate enforcement agency will take action. Carrying on a regulated activity without a licence is a separate and serious problem. Pause the activity in question, keep all records, and get a lawyer’s view on the licensing position before you say anything to MAS, customers or the bank.
What the Investor Alert List is
MAS’s Investor Alert List names persons who, based on information available to MAS:
- may be or may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or otherwise authorised or regulated by MAS;
- have offered units in a business trust or collective investment scheme that may be or may have been wrongly perceived as authorised, recognised or registered by MAS; or
- have made an offer of investment that may be or may have been wrongly perceived as made in or accompanied by a document lodged or registered with MAS.
The list is not exhaustive. In a reply to a Parliamentary Question, MAS explained that it assesses public feedback and documentary evidence on an entity before listing it, and that listing does not of itself give MAS powers to monitor or investigate the entity. MAS has also said it will no longer list entities that impersonate MAS-regulated financial institutions.
Why a legitimate-looking company ends up listed
- Marketing that implies regulation: “MAS-approved”, “regulated in Singapore”, or using a Singapore address and company registration to suggest a licence the company does not hold.
- Offering investments to the public such as profit-sharing schemes, pooled trading accounts or tokens, without the required prospectus or exemption.
- Providing a regulated service such as fund management, dealing in capital markets products, financial advice or payment services without a licence or a valid exemption. See unlicensed payment services.
- A group company overseas marketing to Singapore investors using the Singapore company’s name.
What to do
- Find out what triggered it. Review the company’s website, social media, apps, brochures, customer agreements and what sales staff and introducers have been saying.
- Pause the activity in question. Stop taking new money or customers for any product or service whose licensing position is unclear.
- Get legal advice on licensing. A lawyer should assess whether the activity needs a licence, falls within an exemption, or must stop. Check any licensed partner you rely on in the MAS Financial Institutions Directory.
- Correct the public statements. Remove any wording that suggests MAS regulation or approval, on every channel.
- Communicate with MAS through your lawyer. MAS does not publish a removal procedure. Any approach should be factual, supported by documents, and made only after the activity and marketing have been put right.
- Prepare for the bank. The company’s bank may ask questions or review the account. See a bank KYC review and when a bank closes a company account.
- Look after existing customers. Decide, with advice, how to deal with money already received, and keep complete records of what is owed to whom.
Example
Example only, not a client case. A Singapore company set up by foreign founders runs a social media campaign for a “copy-trading” programme operated by its overseas parent, saying the group is “based and regulated in Singapore”. Months later it appears on the Investor Alert List and its bank asks for an explanation. The directors stop the campaign, take the posts down, and instruct a lawyer, who concludes that the Singapore company’s role needs a licence it does not have. The company stops onboarding Singapore customers, documents what it has received from customers and what it owes them, and its lawyer explains the steps taken in a letter to MAS. The company’s bank reviews the account with the same documents.
Frequently asked questions
Does being on the list mean the company committed an offence?
Not necessarily, as MAS has said. But it often points to activity or marketing that needs to be examined urgently, and other agencies may act where an offence is suspected.
Someone is using our company’s name in a scam. Will MAS list us?
MAS no longer lists entities that impersonate MAS-regulated financial institutions. If your company’s name is being misused, report it to the Police and keep evidence. See self-reporting to a regulator for how to approach an agency.
We are a fund or family office structure. Does this apply?
Fund management and fund structures have their own licensing and exemption rules, and the way a fund is marketed matters. Take advice before marketing to investors. More on the company law hub.
Is your company on the Investor Alert List?
If your company has been named on the MAS Investor Alert List, or a bank or partner has raised it, contact the Raffles Corporate Services team at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +65 8501 7133 or +65 9018 0072. We will help you assemble the company’s corporate and financial records, prepare board resolutions for the steps taken, and support the bank’s review. The licensing question needs a lawyer, so we will refer you to a firm on our panel of Singapore law firms that advises on MAS regulation. Raffles Corporate Services is a corporate services provider, not a law firm, and this article is general information, not legal advice.
Willie Tan, Raffles Corporate Services