Singapore legislation
Regulation 24
Regulation 24
Margin requirement for product financing
Subregulation 1
Subject to regulation 24B, the holder of a licence for product financing —
shall obtain margin from each customer in respect of any provision of product financing to the customer; and
shall not cause or permit the equity in the customer’s margin account to be 110% of the debit balance in that customer’s margin account or less.
Subregulation 2
Where the equity in a customer’s margin account is 110% of the debit balance in that customer’s margin account or less, the holder of a licence shall immediately require the customer to provide additional margin within 2 business days to increase the equity in the customer’s margin account to more than 110% of the debit balance in that customer’s margin account.
Subregulation 3
The holder of a licence shall not cause or permit —
the aggregate of the margin exposures in the margin accounts of all customers to exceed 500%, or such other percentage as the Authority may allow, of its free financial resources; and (b)[Deleted by S 685/2025 wef 31/10/2025](c)the debit balance in each customer’s margin account to exceed 20%, or such other percentage as the Authority may allow, of its free financial resources.(d)[Deleted by S 372/2005 wef 01/07/2005]
Subregulation 4
[Deleted by S 372/2005 wef 01/07/2005]
Subregulation 5
For the purpose of this regulation, margins deposited by customers with the holder in accordance with this regulation shall be in the form of acceptable collateral or such other instrument as may be specified in an MAS notice that applies to the holder or by a notice given to the holder by the Authority.
Subregulation 6
In this regulation, unless the context otherwise requires —[Deleted by S 192/2013 wef 03/04/2013][Deleted by S 192/2013 wef 03/04/2013]
Definition
“acceptable collateral”, in relation to product financing, means —
cash;
(aa)gold;
a share or convertible bond listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited;
a share or convertible bond listed on a recognised group A exchange and that is —
in the case of a share, included in a market index of that recognised group A exchange; or
issued by a corporation with shareholders’ funds of not less than $200 million or its equivalent in any foreign currency;
a debt security —
issued by a government or public entity of any country or territory, or a recognised multilateral agency specified in Table 3 of the Fourth Schedule, with a long-term rating of —
not less than BB-minus by Fitch Ratings;
not less than Ba3 by Moody’s Investor Services; or
not less than BB-minus by Standard & Poor’s;
issued by any other entity with a long-term rating of —
not less than BBB-minus by Fitch Ratings;
not less than Baa3 by Moody’s Investor Services; or
not less than BBB-minus by Standard & Poor’s;
being a short-term debt instrument with a rating of —
not less than F3 by Fitch Ratings;
not less than P3 by Moody’s Investor Services; or
not less than A3 by Standard & Poor’s; or
listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited or a recognised group A exchange if, and only if, the issuer’s shares are listed on that exchange and qualify as a share referred to in paragraph (b) or (c);
a collective investment scheme —
authorised by the Authority under section 286 of the Act (other than exchange traded funds and property funds); or
recognised by the Authority under section 287 of the Act (other than exchange traded funds and property funds) —
for which prices are published daily; and
which invests at least 90% of the deposited property of the collective investment scheme in instruments being any or all of the instruments specified in paragraphs (a) to (k) (including this paragraph);
an exchange traded fund quoted on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited or a recognised group A exchange, which tracks an index of, or basket of, stocks quoted on —
the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited; or
a recognised group A exchange;
a property fund listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited or a recognised group A exchange;
any contract traded on —
the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited; or
a recognised group A exchange, where the shares of the issuer of the contract, and the shares of the issuer of the underlying security, qualify as a share referred to in paragraph (b) or (c);
specified products in an initial public offer that are to be listed for quotation or to be quoted on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited, and which have been fully paid for by a customer of the holder of a licence;
specified products quoted on the Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) International; or
such other specified products or financial instruments as the Authority may specify in an MAS notice applicable to the holder;
Definition
“debit balance”, in relation to a customer’s margin account, means the amount owing by the customer in the margin account and includes —
amounts to be financed by the holder of a licence in respect of outstanding purchases made in the margin account of the customer, net of —
cash collateral;
cash dividends declared and payable into the margin account of the customer; and
sales proceeds receivable from open sale contracts made in the margin account of the customer; and
all commission charges, interest expenses and other related expenses;
Definition
“equity”, in relation to a customer’s margin account, means the current market value of acceptable collateral bought and carried, or deposited as collateral, by a customer in the margin account;
Definition
“exchange traded fund” means a collective investment scheme concerned with the acquisition, holding, management or disposal of a portfolio of predetermined constituent assets in predetermined proportions, which constituent assets principally comprise specified products listed for quotation on any approved exchange or overseas exchange;
Definition
“free financial resources” means the financial resources of the holder less the total risk requirement of the holder;
Definition
“margin account”, in relation to a customer, means an account of the customer through which the relevant holder of a licence extends or has extended product financing to the customer;
Definition
“margin exposure”, in respect of a margin account, means —
where the specified products bought or carried, or deposited as collateral, in the margin account comprise a single specified product, the debit balance in the margin account; or
where the specified products bought or carried, or deposited as collateral, in the margin account comprise 2 or more specified products, an amount computed by the following formula:where —
A is the current market value of each specified product bought or carried, or deposited as collateral, in the margin account; and
B is the aggregate of the current market value of all specified products bought or carried in the margin account, and the current market value of all specified products deposited as collateral in the margin account;
Definition
“property fund” means a scheme which invests or proposes to invest primarily in real estate and real estate-related assets;
Definition
“public entity” means —
a regional government or local authority that is able to exercise one or more functions of the central government at the regional or local level;
an administrative body or non-commercial undertaking responsible to, or owned by, a central government, regional government or local authority, which performs regulatory or non-commercial functions;
a statutory board in Singapore (other than the Authority); or
a town council in Singapore established pursuant to the Town Councils Act (Cap. 329A);
Definition
“share”, in relation to acceptable collateral in a customer’s margin account, includes —
a bonus share that has yet to be credited to the margin account if, and only if, the holder of a licence is legally entitled to the receipt and deposit of such bonus share into the margin account; and
a depository receipt.
Subregulation 7
Any reference to financial resources in this regulation in relation to the holder of a licence referred to in regulation 5 which is a foreign company shall be read as adjusted net head office funds.