The source said the industry is still waiting for official confirmation from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Mas) about when the cap will be implemented: “Even though we’re supposed to assume that it’s in place, it isn’t.
“Everyone is talking about it and assumes that it is in place, but there is no actual effective date on record at the moment. It has still not been practically implemented yet,” the source said.
Already delayed
The 55% cap on commission payments has already been delayed by a year after industry feedback that firms needed more time to implement the rules.
The regulator is understood to still be in talks with “mainly the big local providers” about how they would enforce the cap.
“The local providers are saying that they haven’t had enough time to and that the cap is too much of a change,” the source told IA.
The Singapore regulator announced a 55% cap on the first-year commissions advisers receive as part of its Financial Advisory Industry Review (Fair).
The remaining 45% is paid over the following five years or the remaining premium payment years, whichever is shorter.
When the 12-month delay was announced in November 2015, a spokesperson for the regulator said: “Arising from industry feedback that it needs more time to implement the spreading and capping of commissions (SCC) rules, the SCC requirements will take effect on 1 Jan 2017.”
