Customer Knowledge Assessment & Customer Account Review

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has introduced new requirements to provide safeguards to retail investors who wish to trade Specified Investment Products (SIPs), with effect from 1st Jan 2012.

In accordance, financial institutions like Phillip Nova will be assessing our customers on their relevant knowledge or experience of such SIPs (Futures, Forex and Exchange Traded Funds), before offering the products. Phillip Nova will conduct two assessments:

• the “Customer Account Review (CAR)” if you wish to trade a Specified Investment Product that is listed on an exchange; and
• the “Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA)” if you wish to trade a Specified Investment Product that is not listed on an exchange.

Retail customers are required to satisfy the criteria of the assessments before they can proceed to invest/trade in SIPs. The results of these assessments will only affect your ability to trade SIPs starting from 1st Jan 2012.

Specified Investment Products are products that have structures, features and risks that may be more complex in nature.

All of Phillip Nova’s investment products fall under the SIP category. This includes, but is not limited to

1. Futures
2. Options
3. Leveraged Forex/Bullion
4. OTC metals
5. Contract For Difference (CFD)
6. Exchange Traded Funds 

Yes it is compulsory. MAS new measures require Phillip Nova to assess all existing clients of their investment knowledge and experience.

The Customer Account Review (CAR) enables us to assess if you have the relevant knowledge or experience to trade in listed SIP products. The Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA) enables us to assess if you have the relevant knowledge or experience to trade in unlisted SIPs.

Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA) = Eligibility to trade Forex, CFDs and OTC products, subject to final approval.

Customer Account Review (CAR) = Eligibility to trade Futures, Options, Exchange Traded Funds, subject to final approval.

For more details on eligibility for Specified Investment Products, please click here.

The Customer Account Review will be valid for 3 years only. Customers will be required to take the CAR assessment once every 3 years, 

The Customer Knowledge Assessment is valid for 1 year only. Customers will be required to take the CKA once every year.

No, you will have to be assessed independently by Phillip Nova again. The Assessment is done on an individual basis, and each brokerage will exercise due diligence and conduct their own CKA & CAR Assessment as part of the Know Your Client (KYC) guidelines.

If you fail the CKA/CRA assessment, you will not be allowed to continue trading futures. 

However, for listed SIPs (e.g. Futures), you will be qualified to trade if you pass the SGX Online Education Quiz. 

Additionally, for unlisted SIPs (e.g. Leveraged Forex), you will be qualified to trade if you pass the ABS-SAS assessment on Foreign Exchange Margin Trading. 

If you have trading experience in Futures but not in Forex/CFD (or vice versa), we will need to review other areas of your profile to ensure that you are suitable to trade in Forex/CFD and/or Futures. This is due to the assessment criteria for listed and unlisted products being slightly different.

Please refer to the How can I show that I have the relevant knowledge and experience to trade Specified Investment Products? FAQ above for the complete assessment criteria.

For the trading of specified investment products, an independent third party assessment is necessary.

For listed products, the SGX Online Education Programme is a standardised benchmark stipulated by MAS to assess investment knowledge. You are strongly encouraged to pass the quiz for knowledge assessment: https://onlineeducation.sgx.com/specifiedinvestmentproducts.

For unlisted products, ABS-SAS E-learning Portal is a standardised benchmark stipulated by MAS to assess investment knowledge. You are strongly encouraged to pass the quiz for knowledge assessment: http://sips.abs.org.sg/.