9 April 2013…The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) conducted a survey in February 2013 to gauge the progress made by financial advisory representatives in passing the Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services (CMFAS) Module 9A1. The survey found that 70% of the representatives2 have passed.
2 The survey covered 24 financial institutions, comprising the large life insurance companies, banks, capital markets services licence holders and licensed financial advisers involved in advising or arranging life insurance products for retail customers. More than 12,000 (70%) of the 17,500 representatives from these firms have passed Module 9A. Of the remaining 5,200 representatives, about 1,500 (9%) have had at least one unsuccessful attempt at the examination and about 3,700 (21%) have not attempted the examination (see Annex).
3 A range of preparatory options is available to assist representatives to pass Module 9A. Some financial institutions have been conducting in-house training courses and tutorials, and the Singapore College of Insurance (SCI) has been offering preparatory programmes since August 2012. For Chinese-educated representatives, SCI has made available a Chinese version of the Module 9A study guide and allowed the use of English-Chinese dictionaries as well as a list of technical terms in Chinese during the examination.
4 Despite the additional assistance, MAS has received feedback that a small group of older, Chinese-educated representatives have attempted the Module 9A examinations several times, unsuccessfully. We have therefore agreed for the SCI to offer a Chinese version of the Module 9A examination for Chinese-educated representatives aged 45 and above as at 1 January 2013 who have failed Module 9A at least twice. They will also be given an additional 30 minutes for the examination. The Chinese version of the Module 9A examination will also include some questions to test the representatives’ ability to read and understand product disclosure documents in English.
5 MAS encourages all representatives, especially those who have not attempted the Module 9A examination, to take the necessary steps to pass it. Representatives who do not pass Module 9A by 30 June 2013 will have to confine their financial advisory activities to non-complex life insurance products such as term policies, whole life plans and endowment plans. Principal companies will have to put in place the necessary controls and monitoring mechanisms to ensure this.
6 Lee Chuan Teck, Assistant Managing Director, MAS, said, “I am heartened that the vast majority of representatives have already passed Module 9A. MAS will continue to work with SCI and the industry to help the rest prepare for the examination. But we cannot extend the transition period as it may compromise the quality of advice given to customers on complex products.”
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