The Monetary Authority of Singapore will tighten conduct safeguards for financial institutions marketing products in public places. Representatives will have to state at the outset that they intend to market financial products or services and obtain a consumer’s consent before continuing. Institutions will also be expected to confine public prospecting to designated areas at commercial premises.
The measures follow a public consultation on conduct at roadshows and similar events, where MAS said unsolicited or persistent solicitation can create consumer-protection concerns. The regulator said street canvassing and door-to-door prospecting will remain prohibited. Updated guidelines are due in 2027, followed by a nine-month transition period.
DESIGNATED AREAS WILL LIMIT SALES APPROACHES
CNA reported that permitted venues can include exhibition halls, corporate conference rooms and common spaces inside commercial buildings. Pedestrian walkways and residential areas are excluded. Institutions will also be expected to keep prospecting within five metres of the demarcated event space.
Financial institutions must appoint suitably qualified people to oversee representatives’ conduct at these events. MAS will not require written records of every verbal consent, but institutions should maintain mechanisms to check that representatives obtain it. Clear pre-registration for an event can count as consent when marketing activity has been disclosed.
SOME CONSULTATION PROPOSALS WERE DROPPED
MAS decided not to impose a separate period for customers to reconsider purchases, citing existing free-look and cancellation rights. It also declined to prohibit gifts at roadshows, while retaining expectations that promotional benefits must not be displayed or offered in ways that improperly influence buying decisions.
The safeguards extend Singapore’s conduct framework from digital advertising to face-to-face prospecting and will require firms to adjust event layouts, scripts and supervision. The next concrete milestone is MAS’s publication of the revised guidelines in 2027, which will start the nine-month implementation timetable.