The Answer in 60 Seconds Two MAS lists matter here. The Financial Institutions Directory lists the firms MAS regulates, including financial advisers and insurance brokers, and the activities each may carry on. The Financial Institution Representatives Register lists the individuals appointed to carry on regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Act or to give financial advisory services under the Financial Advisers Act, such as advice on life policies and other investment products. A firm missing from the directory is not on MAS's list of the institutions it regulates. Staff who only arrange general insurance, such as fire, liability or work injury cover, are not on the representatives register, and agents of general insurers are checked on the General Insurance Association's agent register instead.

The Sourced Detail

The MAS lists you need to know

Per the MAS Directories page:

  • Financial Institutions Directory : a list of financial institutions regulated by MAS and the regulated activities they are authorised to provide
  • Register of Representatives ("Financial Institution Representatives Register"): individuals appointed by financial institutions who conduct activities regulated by MAS
  • Investor Alert List : persons unregulated by MAS who may have been wrongly perceived as licensed
  • Enforcement Actions list : formal regulatory and enforcement actions taken by MAS

Step-by-step: how to verify a financial adviser firm

  1. Go to eservices.mas.gov.sg/fid
  2. Enter the firm name
  3. Confirm the firm appears in results
  4. Click into the firm and verify:
    • Licence Type/Status: e.g., "Licensed Financial Adviser", "Exempt Financial Adviser", "Registered Insurance Broker", "Capital Markets Services Licensee"
  • Authorised regulated activities - e.g., advising on investment products, dealing in capital markets products
  1. Cross-check that the activity matches what they're proposing to do for you

A firm may hold more than one licence. The directory shows all of a firm's licences on its one entry, and its result count counts licences, so the count can be higher than the number of firms listed.

Step-by-step: how to verify an individual representative

  1. Go to eservices.mas.gov.sg/rr
  2. Enter the individual's full name
  3. Confirm:
    • Principal firm - the licensed FI that has appointed them
    • Regulated activities: the types of service the representative is appointed to provide, such as advising on life policies or arranging life policies. Check that they include the service being provided to you
    • CMFAS exams: the register does not show them. Under MAS Notice FAA-N26 the firm keeps its own record of each representative's exam passes (RES5 plus the product modules for the advice given), so ask the firm
    • Status: whether each activity is current or suspended. Activities that ended in the past three years are shown as past activities, with their start and end dates

Per MAS, competency requirements for representatives are set by Notice FAA-N26 (Financial Advisers Act) and Notice SFA 04-N22 (Securities and Futures Act), both in force from 1 April 2024. The CMFAS modules now include Rules, Ethics & Skills (RES) content tailored to the regulated activities the representative conducts.

Step-by-step: what fields signal a problem

  • Not in the FID at all - strong signal. Cross-check the Investor Alert List. If they appear there, they are unregulated.
  • In the FID but the regulated activity does not match - for example, a CMS licensee not authorised to advise on life insurance.
  • The activity appears only among past activities on the register: that appointment has ended, so they can no longer carry on that activity for that firm.
  • Recent enforcement action listed against the firm - review carefully.

Per MoneySense: "Remember, dealing with an unregulated entity means giving up the safeguards offered under the laws administered by MAS."

Why this matters for SMEs buying business insurance

Three real risks if you skip the check:

  1. Fraud risk. Unlicensed individuals posing as brokers can collect "premiums" and disappear. There is no Policy Owners' Protection Scheme recourse if there was no licensed insurer in the chain.
  2. Unauthorised intermediary risk. A firm that arranges general insurance for you as your agent, such as fire, liability or work injury cover, must be registered or exempt as an insurance broker under section 75 of the Insurance Act 1966. Advising on or arranging a life policy, or advising on another investment product, as a business needs a financial adviser's licence or an exemption under section 6 of the Financial Advisers Act 2001.
  3. Indirect liability risk. If you end up with a non-WICA-compliant policy because an unlicensed party set you up, you remain liable to your employees under WICA - the MOM-designated insurer regime is binary.

What about FIDReC?

The Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC) handles disputes between consumers and financial institutions in Singapore. MOM's Conditions for Work Injury Compensation Designated Insurers require every MOM-designated insurer to process WICA claims to the timelines and standards in MOM's manual for designated insurers. If a dispute with the insurer remains unresolved, you may contact MOM, or FIDReC, which takes complaints from individuals, sole proprietors, small businesses and charities.

FIDReC's jurisdiction is limited to MAS-regulated financial institutions. If you bought from an unregulated party, FIDReC cannot help - another reason verification matters.

What This Means for Your Business

Companies typically need to consider four-step verification before signing any commercial insurance:

  1. Verify firm on the Financial Institutions Directory
  2. Verify individual on the Register of Representatives
  3. Cross-check against the Investor Alert List
  4. Save the screenshots with date stamps - you may need them for FIDReC, MAS complaints, or PDPC purposes

For WICA specifically, also verify that the insurer is a MOM-designated insurer. MAS regulates the financial adviser; MOM regulates the WICA insurer's authority to issue WICA policies. Both checks matter.

Questions to Ask Your Adviser

  1. "Can you walk me through your entry on the MAS Financial Institutions Directory in real time?"
  2. "Show me your individual entry on the Register of Representatives - what regulated activities are you authorised for?"
  3. "Have you or your firm had any enforcement action by MAS in the past three years?"
  4. "Is the insurer you're proposing on the MOM designated insurer list for WICA?"
  5. "If we have a dispute, is FIDReC available, and what's the firm's complaints handling SOP?"

Related Information

Published 3 May 2026. Source verified 3 May 2026.