CFCL Investment regulation – Singapore
Reference
Regulatory structure
Please refer to the CBL Market infrastructure - Singapore for the complete information about the regulatory structure.
Holding restrictions
Disclaimer
The information contained in the Holding Restrictions is based on the legal opinion obtained by CBL that was issued on 2 June 2020. CFCL believes the information to be correct as of that date but disclaims any responsibility as to the accuracy and completeness of the information after that date. In the case of discrepancy between the information provided by CFCL and the local laws and regulations, the latter shall prevail. The Holding Restrictions do not constitute legal advice and Clients should seek advice from independent professional counsel.
Clients are responsible for ensuring compliance with the holding restrictions and agree to indemnify and hold harmless, CFCL, for any loss, expense, liability, damage, or claims, whether direct or indirect, against or incurred by CFCL arising out of or resulting from such non-compliance.
Holding Restrictions - Register Market - Singapore
Restrictions on clients
There are no general restrictions on client residency for holdings held through CFCL. However, certain funds may impose specific restrictions on investor domicile. Clients must refer to and abide by the restrictions (if any) contained in the fund prospectus before entering into transactions.
Sanctions legislation may also impose restrictions or a ban on dealing with entities of which the ultimate beneficiaries would have ties to certain (sanctioned) countries.
Restrictions on settlement
There is no general restriction on settlement of Singapore investment funds through CFCL. However, certain funds may impose specific settlement/transfer restrictions. Clients must refer to and abide by the restrictions (if any) contained in the fund prospectus before entering into transactions.
Holding Restrictions – CSD Market - Singapore
Foreign investors are eligible to invest in all securities traded on the SGX. Unless stated specifically in the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A), there are no restrictions on foreign ownership. Certain companies in Singapore do limit the foreign ownership of their shares and prior approval from the relevant bodies is required.
Each company is responsible for monitoring its own foreign shareholding limit and is not obliged to publish their foreign ownership limits.
Disclosure requirements
Introductory information and categories
This section provides general information about the disclosure requirements for fund securities holdings with which Clearstream Fund Centre must, according to the information available at the time of the present publication, comply with each of the domestic markets and fund markets covered by the Disclosure Requirements.
Fund securities that are held remotely are usually not disclosed by CFCL. A disclosure request received by CFCL regarding such a holding will be forwarded to the relevant client without assessing its validity and the CFCL Client shall handle the request on a voluntary basis.
Disclosure Requirements are only available for those countries where CFCL has a link to the respective domestic market or direct access to local domiciled funds that are held in Clearstream’s name on the register.
For fund securities holdings where CFCL has no such link or direct access to the register, clients must be aware that local laws might provide for mandatory disclosure. A disclosure request in this regard will be forwarded to clients without assessing its validity. Clients commit not to unreasonably withhold their consent to such a request and agree to indemnify CFCL for damages resulting directly from non-compliance with mandatory local disclosure requirements.
In most cases, the obligation to disclose is based on the domestic equivalent of a Companies Act, relevant investment funds act or anti-money laundering act and covers all security types.
In some instances, the obligation to disclose is based on stock exchange laws or regulations and only applies to listed domestic and foreign securities.
The Disclosure Requirements do not constitute legal advice and the Clients should seek independent professional advice in relation to fund securities deposited with CFCL, especially as, for those jurisdictions in which no disclosure obligation falls on CFCL, there may be separate disclosure requirements that apply directly to clients of CFCL, shareholders and beneficial owners.
Please note that CFCL is not always given comprehensive information or advised of changes affecting local disclosure requirements.
It remains the sole responsibility of the Client to ensure compliance with local disclosure requirements. If a requirement is not met, it is the Client who will be liable to any related penalty. Clients are therefore advised to seek independent legal advice on the existence and interpretation of local disclosure requirements.
In the case of a discrepancy between the general information contained in this document and the information provided by CFCL for a specific market, as applicable (irrespective of whether this information has been obtained from an agent of Clearstream Fund Centre, or, as the case may be, a foreign regulator of a branch of CFCL), the information provided by CFCL for the specific market as applicable, shall prevail.
N.B.: In all countries, if it is suspected that a disclosure obligation has been breached (for example, that a threshold of holdings under custody has been crossed without being reported), the regulators and the authorities may have the power to investigate. Moreover, in all countries, disclosure obligations might be triggered by enforceable judgements of the competent jurisdiction of the country in question.
Disclosure categories
Clearstream Fund Centre classifies disclosure scenarios according to the following market categories:
Category 1
Markets where disclosure by Clearstream Banking as a custodian of Clearstream Fund Centre to issuers, investment fund managers and/or to regulators or market authorities is mandatory under applicable law;
Category 2
Markets where disclosure by Clearstream Banking as a custodian of Clearstream Fund Centre of account holders to issuers, investment fund managers and/or foreign regulators or market authorities is a legal obligation in respect of securities in specific circumstances;
Category 3
Markets where there is no obligation for Clearstream Banking as custodian of Clearstream Fund Centre to disclose account holders to issuers, investment fund managers and/or regulators, notwithstanding any disclosure requirement falling directly on clients of Clearstream Fund Centre, shareholders and/or beneficial owners or notwithstanding disclosure necessary to obey an enforceable judgement of the country in question.
Disclosure requirements – Register Market - Singapore
Disclosure Category: 2
Clearstream Fund Centre ("CFCL") may be required under the laws and regulations of Singapore to disclose, upon request, information and holdings on CFCL clients and ultimate beneficial owners for holding investment funds in Singapore.
Consent
In order to comply with the applicable legislation, clients with holdings in Singapore investment funds or entering into transactions in Singapore market must consent, and are hereby deemed to consent, to the required legal disclosure. Such consent includes the appointment of the requestor (for example, the Fund Manager, Transfer Agent, Regulator) as their attorney-in-fact, under power of attorney, to collect from CFCL the required information to be disclosed. Clients who do not grant such authority cannot hold such investment funds / financial instruments in their accounts with CFCL.
Disclosure Requirement
Clients are advised that under local laws and regulations, investment funds and its agents may require CFCL, on request, to disclose information on CFCL clients and ultimate beneficial owners. This is particularly the situation where the fund is managed and/or distributed by a financial institution regulated by the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) in Singapore and is required to comply with local regulatory requirements.
Background and legal basis
Disclosure of information on CFCL clients and ultimate beneficial owners may arise from the following Singapore laws and regulations:
- Notices on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT Notices);
- MAS Notice on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism – Capital Markets Intermediaries (MAS Notice SFA04-N02);
- MAS Guidelines to MAS Notice SFA04-N02 on Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism;
- Register of Registrable Controllers.
Sanctions
Non-compliance with the disclosure requirements may result in the fund manager or its agent refusing acceptance of the proposed investment, and/or mandatory redemption of the existing holdings.
The client undertakes to hold CFCL harmless and to indemnify CFCL from any loss, claim, liability or expense asserted against or imposed upon CFCl as a result of the customer failure, whatever the failure, to comply with these disclosure requests.
Disclosure requirements – CSD Market - Singapore
Disclosure Category: 1
Under the terms of the Singapore Companies Act and the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), the obligation may fall on Clearstream Fund Centre ("CFCL") to disclose information on clients holdings to Singapore issuers.
Consent
In order to comply with the legislation as mentioned below, clients holding Singapore shares or entering into transactions in the Singapore domestic market consent and are hereby deemed to consent to disclosure and to the appointment of the requestor (for example, the listed company or its agent) as their attorney-in-fact, under power of attorney to collect from CFCL such information as is required to be disclosed.
Disclosure requirements
Clients are advised that under local regulations, Singapore companies may require CFCL, through its local custodian, on request and/or on a regular basis, to disclose to that company information relating to CFCL clients holding any of the company’s shares in CFCL.
Upon receipt of the disclosure request from the company, CFCL’s depository will indicate Clearstream Banking as the client of the depository. If the company requires further disclosure at the beneficial owner level, CFCL’s depository will inform CFCL to provide the list of beneficial owners.
Background and legal basis
Under Section 137F of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), Chapter 289 a company has the right to request its shareholders to disclose whether they hold such shares as beneficial owners or in trust for third parties. If the shares are held in trust, disclosure of the final beneficial owner and the nature of interest must be made to the company upon request. Please consult this section of the SFA for further details.
Please refer to Disclosure Requirements – Singapore for more complete information on disclosure requirements for Singapore.
Disclaimer
The information contained in the Disclosure Requirements is based on the legal opinion obtained by CBL acting as sub-custodian for CFCL that was issued on 2 June 2020. CBL believes the information to be correct as of that date but disclaims any responsibility as to the accuracy and completeness of the information after that date. In the case of discrepancy between the information provided by CBL and the local laws and regulations, the latter shall prevail. The Disclosure Requirements do not constitute legal advice and clients should seek advice from independent professional counsel.
Clients are responsible for ensuring compliance with the disclosure requirements and agree to indemnify and hold harmless, CBL, for any loss, expense, liability, damage, or claims, whether direct or indirect, against or incurred by CBL arising out of or resulting from such non-compliance.