The regulatory amendments made by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in November 2022 have little effect on operating external asset managers (EAMs). First, MAS emphasised that the senior management must be anchored in the company. – MAS wants financial institutions to have stable senior management. – In new fund management companies, the CEO and executive directors of a fund management company are expected to jointly hold a controlling stake (>50% effective voting interest) in the fund management company unless the fund management company is part of an established business group (para. 3.11 Guidelines on Licensing, Registration and Conduct of Business for Fund Management Companies). Second, MAS introduced additional mandatory confirmations when a fund management company ceases its business (Q25 FAQs on the Licensing and Registration of Fund Management Companies).

As there are few regulatory amendments, EAMs can focus on completing their annual tasks, such as their business continuity test, outsourcing reviews, reviews of IT and risk registers and more. Also, you may already think about the annual submissions coming up at the beginning of January, namely your nil misconduct report and quarterly filing for LFMCs and Form 25A for RFMCs with the financial year ending on 31 December.