After a long lead-up, the Singapore Prime Minister's Office has now confirmed that the Payment Services Act 2019 (the Act) (other than sections 111, 113, and 114) will imminently come into force on 28 January 2020 (the commencement date).

Alongside this notification, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the MAS) published numerous instruments to accompany the Act, most of which will take effect from the commencement date:

  • Five regulations–this includes the main regulation (i.e.,the Payment Services regulations 2019), as well as two regulations that relate to the transitional period;
  • Twelve notices–six of which relate to conduct, disclosure, and reporting requirements; four of which relate to requirements for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT requirements); and two of which relate to technology risk and cyber hygiene requirements; and
  • Three guidelines –all of which relate to conduct requirements.

Although there is a huge amount of information to digest, a key takeaway point is that from the commencement date, all persons conducting regulated activities under the Act will need to hold an appropriate license, unless exempted or excluded, although the exact application will depend on whether an entity is currently licensed by the Payment Services (Oversight) Act or the Money - Changing and Remittance Businesses Act (the Existing Regime).

Broadly speaking, deeming provisions will apply to current licence holders. For example, a licensed entity carrying out stored value facility activities under the Payment Services (Oversight) Act will be deemed to be a major payment institution licence holder under the Act. The licensed entity will then need to pay attention to the inter-operability, customer safeguarding, user protection, and anti-money laundering requirements of the Act.

In respect of entities that are currently conducting activities that are not regulated under the Existing Regime, such as domestic money transfer or merchant acquisition activities, licensing grace periods may apply provided an organizationinforms the MAS of their payment activities by 27 February 2020 via the lodging of the necessary forms, which should specify the processes and rules that the entity intends to implement to comply with the Act. Digital payment service providers will be given a grace period of six months, whilst all other service providers will be given a grace period of one year.

The guide below sets out a high-level summary of the publications recently released.

Footnotes

1 Singapore Statues Online: available here.

2 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

3 Singapore Statues Online: available here.

4 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

5 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

6 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

7 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

8 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

9 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

10 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

11 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

12 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

13 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

14 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

15 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

16 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

17 Monetary Authority of Singapore: available here.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.