The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has set the deadline for the official release of the new rules concerning fund managers for August 2012.

The announcement was made by Ravi Menon (pictured), managing director of the MAS, at the MAS annual report 2011/12 press conference held last week in Singapore.

He said: “All fund management companies will have to meet the enhanced competency, business conduct, and capital requirements by August 2012. Those with assets under management greater than SGD250m will have to be licensed, while those below this threshold may operate under the ‘Registered Fund Management Company’ regime, which will replace the existing ‘Exempt Fund Manager’ regime.” As a result, fund managers will need to liaise with the MAS regarding their new status and implement enhanced compliance controls and processes accordingly.”

Peter Douglas, senior consultant at Laven Partners in Singapore, says: "This is good news as there is now a clear timeline for managers to adapt to the new regulatory system. The fund management industry in Singapore has been waiting for these rules to come through for a while. We strongly advise our clients who manage more than the threshold SGD250m of assets to undertake their regulatory application as soon as possible.”

According to a consultation paper published by the MAS on 27 September 2011, exempt fund managers will have a transition period of six months to become compliant with the new regulations.