On 9 March, 2023, the revised Code on Collective Investment Schemes (“Code”) was issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the “Authority” or “MAS”) pursuant to section 321 of the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289) (“SFA”).
The Code sets out the best practices for managers, approved trustees, directors of a VCC and custodians of a VCC or a sub-fund of a VCC and what is expected of them to observe.
The revised version includes amendments to Chapter 10 to set out references to the ASEAN Sustainable and Responsible Fund Standards where applicable.
What is a Collective Investment Scheme
A collective investment scheme is an arrangement in respect of any property which satisfies the following elements:
- Participants have no day-to-day control over management of the property.
- Either or both characteristics are present:
- The property is managed as a whole by or on behalf of the manager,
- Participants’ contributions are pooled, and profits/ income from which payments are to be made are
- (Purported) purpose or effects of the arrangement is to enable members to participate in or receive profits/ income arising from the property.
ASEAN sustainable and responsible fund standards
The ASEAN SRFS aims to provide minimum disclosure and reporting requirements that can be consistently applied to collective investment schemes (“CIS”) that seek to qualify under the ASEAN SRFS, considering the rise of CIS with ESG investment focus and the need for a comparable, uniform and transparent disclosure of information to mitigate the risk of greenwashing. In this regard, CIS or CIS operators must demonstrate compliance with the ASEAN SRFS which will assist investors in making more informed decisions while guiding the CIS or CIS operators on the disclosure of information.
Breach of the Code
A failure by any person to comply with any requirement in the Code will not in and of itself render that person liable to criminal proceedings, although a breach of the Code by the responsible person of a scheme may be taken into account by the Authority when determining whether to revoke or suspend[1] the approval or acknowledgement of the scheme or to refuse to approve or acknowledge new schemes proposed to be offered by the same responsible person.
Similarly, a breach of this Code by a trustee or custodians of a VCC or a sub-fund may be considered by the Authority in determining whether to revoke approval[2] or to prohibit the trustee or custodian from acting as the trustee or custodian for any new scheme.
[1] Under section 286 and 287 of the SFA respectively
[2] Under section 289 of the SFA
