Singapore, 07 Oct 04...The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today issued a package of measures to raise market conduct standards in the sales and advisory process for structured deposits.

The package includes a set of Guidelines on Structured Deposits under the Financial Adviser's Act (FAA). These Guidelines require banks to:

(a) ensure that all marketing materials on such products disclose key information in a clear and adequate manner, and do not include statements that are false or misleading

(b) ensure that bank representatives selling these products are qualified and have a reasonable basis for making recommendations

(c) ensure that steps are taken to segregate the sales process for such investment products from other deposits so that consumers will not be misled into assuming that structured deposits have similar risk-return profiles as traditional fixed deposits.

In addition, MAS has issued a set of Guidelines on the definition of a "Deposit" as stated in the Banking Act (BA). This clarifies the characteristics of a deposit and sets out the requirements that will apply for products that do not satisfy the definition of a deposit.

Banks are given till 1 June 2005 to comply with these Guidelines.

MAS has also published a consumer guide,  "Making Sense of Structured Deposits", to raise awareness of the features of structured deposits, the risks involved and what consumers should look out for when investing in such products. The guide is available on the MAS "For the Consumer" portal under MoneySENSE - Consumer Guides and other Publications .

(Click here for the BA Guidelines on Definition of a "Deposit" (19.2 KB) and the FAA Guidelines on Structured Deposits (41.3 KB) 

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