Singapore's monetary arm proposes rating for all investment products

The Monetary Authority of Singapore proposed several measures on Monday to boost investor protection, including a requirement for all investment products to rated according to their complexity and risks.
The authority proposed that such ratings be disclosed to potential investors, too.
The public consultation on these measures came as there has been "an increase in the number non-conventional products offered to retail investors as alternative investments," the authority said.
Many of these products have features similar to the regulated capital markets products, but are structured in a way that makes them fall outside the coverage of the Securities and Futures Act, it said.
The authority proposed that the current regulatory safeguards available to ordinary investors in capital markets be extended to investors in non-conventional investment products.
Accredited investors, which had typically been differentiated from the retail investors, will be given the option to benefit from the full range of capital markets regulatory safeguards that are applicable for retail investors.
Under the Securities and Futures Act, an Accredited investor is someone whose net personal assets exceed two million Singapore dollars or whose income in the preceding 12 months is not less than 300,000 Singapore dollars, according to the statement.
The public consultation over the proposed changes will take place over a six-week period from July 21 to Sept. 1 this year