RES 1A, Rules, Ethics and Skills for Securities Exchange Dealers, is one of the CMFAS licensing examinations administered by the IBF in Singapore. Under the IBF module mapping, it is designed for individuals who will deal in capital markets products that are securities and/or units in a collective investment scheme for a principal that is a member of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd (SGX-ST). Candidates typically combine it with a product knowledge module and use it as part of the pathway towards notifying MAS before carrying out regulated activities. This study guide distils the official syllabus into 30 core concepts spanning market infrastructure, licensing, market conduct, ethics, dealing practices, the CPF Investment Scheme and financial crime prevention. Each concept includes an original worked example and a common pitfall drawn from how these rules actually operate in practice. Use the guide alongside the official IBF study guide, not as a replacement for it, and treat the self-check scenarios and FAQs as checkpoints for whether you can apply the material, not merely recall it.
Exam and assessment essentials
- Format or assessment
- 80 multiple-choice questions, computer based[1]
- Duration
- 2 hours[1]
- Pass mark
- 75%[1]
- Fees (inclusive of GST)
- S$207.10 for corporate members; S$250.70 for non-corporate members[1]
- Exemptions
- None, because RES 1A is a Rules, Ethics and Skills exam[1]
- Results
- Displayed on screen after the exam; result slips printable from the IBF Portal account on the next business day[1]
- Study guide access
- Registered candidates receive PDF study guide access via IBF Portal; access expires on the registered exam day[2]
- Study guide currency
- IBF updates study guides at intervals; the RES 1A guide showed a version 1.1 update dated Nov 2024, and candidates should ensure they hold the latest version[2]
What the syllabus covers
This study map groups the official scope into revision themes. It is not an official chapter list or a prediction of question weightings.
The Capital Markets Industry in Singapore and Participants in the Capital Markets
Identify the regulators, exchanges, intermediaries and infrastructure that make up the Singapore capital markets, and explain how their roles and products fit together[1]
Licensing and Business Operations
Explain the Capital Markets Services licensing framework, representative appointment requirements, fit and proper expectations, and baseline conduct obligations that shape daily dealing operations[1]
The Trading System and Infrastructure
Describe how orders flow through the SGX-ST trading system, how order types and trading phases behave, and how execution leads to clearing and settlement[1]
Market Conduct
Recognise and avoid insider trading, false trading, market manipulation, misleading statements and improper short selling, and apply information barrier principles[1]
Ethics, Codes and Standards of Professional Conduct for Securities Dealing
Apply ethical principles, conflict of interest management, personal account dealing controls and confidentiality duties to realistic dealing situations[1]
Securities Dealing Practices and Skills
Handle client orders, execution, allocation, error correction and record keeping in a way that is fair, documented and defensible[1]
Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
Understand how CPF savings can be invested under CPFIS, which products and channels are involved, and how CPFIS dealing differs from cash dealing[1]
Prevention of Financial Crimes
Apply customer due diligence, screening and escalation practices, and understand suspicious transaction reporting and record keeping obligations[1]
30 key concepts to understand
- Singapore capital markets regulatory architecture
- Categories of capital markets products
- Market infrastructure: SGX-ST, CDP and clearing
- Capital Markets Services licensing framework
- The regulated activity of dealing in capital markets products
- Representative appointment and notification
- Fit and proper requirements
- Know your client and fair dealing in practice
- Order types and the central limit order book
- Trading phases and order behaviour
- Settlement and delivery-versus-payment
- Buy-in consequences of failed settlement
- Insider trading
- False trading and market manipulation
- False or misleading statements
- Short selling and naked short selling
- Information barriers and misuse of confidential information
- Ethical foundations of securities dealing
- Identifying and managing conflicts of interest
- Personal account dealing controls
- Confidentiality and client data handling
- Order recording and client priority
- Fair execution and allocation across clients
- Error trades and corrections
- Trade confirmations and record keeping
- Purpose and nature of the CPF Investment Scheme
- CPFIS eligible products and account structure
- Practical CPFIS dealing considerations
- Customer due diligence and risk screening
- Suspicious transaction reporting and tipping off
The Capital Markets Industry in Singapore and Participants in the Capital Markets
1. Singapore capital markets regulatory architecture
MAS is the primary financial regulator, licensing intermediaries and setting statutory conduct rules under the Securities and Futures Act framework, while SGX-ST acts as a front-line regulator of its members and listed issuers. Dealers must know which body sets which rule, because a single act can breach both exchange rules and statutory provisions and attract separate consequences.[1]
Common mistake: Treating SGX rules and MAS statutory obligations as interchangeable when they have different sources and different sanctions.
The Capital Markets Industry in Singapore and Participants in the Capital Markets
2. Categories of capital markets products
Capital markets products span securities such as shares and debentures, units of collective investment schemes, and derivatives contracts. RES 1A is designed to be taken together with a product knowledge module because rules and ethics knowledge alone does not cover product features. Distinguishing product classes matters because conduct, disclosure and eligibility requirements differ across them.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming RES 1A by itself equips a dealer to deal in every category of capital markets product.
The Capital Markets Industry in Singapore and Participants in the Capital Markets
3. Market infrastructure: SGX-ST, CDP and clearing
SGX-ST provides the securities trading venue, while CDP performs clearing, settlement and depository functions. Clearing establishes obligations; settlement transfers the securities and money. In a CDP batch settlement run, a participant's payment obligations and entitlements are set off for each settlement currency, producing a net payable or net receivable for that run. Do not confuse this cash netting with the separate recording and delivery of securities. A dealer should be able to trace an order from execution to settlement.[1][3]
Common mistake: Confusing the trading venue with the depository and settlement functions that sit behind it.
Licensing and Business Operations
4. Capital Markets Services licensing framework
Firms carrying on regulated activities such as dealing in capital markets products generally need a Capital Markets Services licence or must fit within a defined exemption. Licensing conditions shape day-to-day operations, including who may deal and under what controls. Dealers should know their employer's licence scope because acting outside it creates regulatory exposure for both firm and individual.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming a business activity is permitted because technology or market practice makes it easy.
Licensing and Business Operations
5. The regulated activity of dealing in capital markets products
Dealing covers activities such as soliciting or accepting orders, executing trades and making offers or invitations to deal. Per the IBF module mapping, for a principal that is an SGX-ST member the Rules, Ethics and Skills requirement may be met by RES 1A or, alternatively, by RES 1B or RES 12B combined with the RES 1BE1 SGX-ST add-on module; principals that are not members of an approved exchange follow the RES 1B or RES 12B route without the add-on. Understanding where dealing ends and other regulated activities begin keeps a representative within scope.[1]
Common mistake: Overlooking that the module mapping differs between exchange members and non-exchange members.
Licensing and Business Operations
6. Representative appointment and notification
Individuals conducting regulated activities for a licensed firm must generally be appointed or registered as its representatives, a status that ties the individual to the principal and its supervisory obligations. Dealers should confirm their appointment covers the activities actually performed and that particulars remain current as roles change.[1]
Common mistake: Starting to deal or solicit orders before formal appointment is in place.
Licensing and Business Operations
7. Fit and proper requirements
Regulators assess honesty, integrity, competence and financial soundness when admitting and continuing to supervise representatives. Compliance is ongoing: certain convictions, dishonest conduct or unresolved judgments can jeopardise status. Dealers should disclose relevant matters and understand that fit and proper evaluation is not a one-off recruitment exercise.[1]
Common mistake: Believing disclosure is discretionary once employment has started.
Licensing and Business Operations
8. Know your client and fair dealing in practice
Before accepting orders, firms must know their clients, including identity and, where applicable, financial situation and objectives, and must treat customers fairly. Dealers should record instructions accurately and ensure any recommendation fits the client's profile. Fair dealing principles shape how orders are solicited, explained and executed, not just how products are sold.[1]
Common mistake: Treating KYC as a one-time onboarding formality rather than a continuing conduct obligation.
The Trading System and Infrastructure
9. Order types and the central limit order book
SGX-ST matching runs on price-time priority in a central limit order book. Limit orders cap the buy price or floor the sell price; market orders execute at the best available price. Dealers must understand how each order type behaves, especially in volatile conditions, because poor order selection can produce unintended fills the client never agreed to.[1]
Common mistake: Using market orders out of habit when the client actually needs price control.
The Trading System and Infrastructure
10. Trading phases and order behaviour
The market moves through phases such as pre-open, open, continuous trading and close, in which order entry, amendment and matching behave differently. In some phases orders accumulate without immediate matching. Dealers must map client instructions to the right phase and manage expectations about when execution will actually occur.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming every accepted order executes immediately regardless of the phase it enters in.
The Trading System and Infrastructure
11. Settlement and delivery-versus-payment
After execution, trades settle over a fixed short cycle through the depository, with securities exchanged against payment on delivery-versus-payment principles, so securities transfer only when payment is secured. Dealers should be able to explain the settlement process and what clients must have in place for settlement to complete without failure.[1]
Common mistake: Quoting a settlement day count from memory or outdated materials instead of checking the current cycle in the official study guide.
The Trading System and Infrastructure
12. Buy-in consequences of failed settlement
When a selling participant fails to deliver securities, CDP's buying-in procedures can require the securities to be purchased in the market, with the purchase cost and an additional penalty typically borne by the party that failed to deliver. This is why dealers must ensure sell orders are covered before acceptance: a failed delivery is a financial and disciplinary exposure, not a minor delay.[1]
Common mistake: Treating a failed delivery as an administrative matter rather than a cost-bearing compliance event.
Market Conduct
13. Insider trading
Insider trading prohibitions apply to a person with inside information about securities who trades in them, procures others to trade, or tips others. Information is inside when it is not generally available and would, or would be likely to, materially affect price. Dealers who receive price-sensitive information through client contact must neither act on it nor pass it on.[1]
Common mistake: Thinking the prohibition applies only to directors and officers, when anyone holding inside information can be liable.
Market Conduct
14. False trading and market manipulation
The statutory framework prohibits transactions that involve no genuine change in beneficial ownership, price positioning that creates a false or misleading appearance, and manipulative devices. Wash trades, matched orders and ramping can breach these prohibitions even where no participant profits. Dealers must refuse and escalate client instructions that resemble any of these patterns.[1]
Common mistake: Believing that a client's ownership of the shares makes engineered, offsetting trading legitimate.
Market Conduct
15. False or misleading statements
Making or circulating false or misleading statements, or spreading information likely to induce dealing or affect price, is prohibited. Rumour-mongering and exaggerated claims in calls, messages or market chatter can create liability even if the speaker did not profit. Dealers should communicate only verified, factual information about products and market conditions.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming that forwarding someone else's tip transfers responsibility away from the person who spreads it.
Market Conduct
16. Short selling and naked short selling
Short selling means selling securities the seller does not own, and selling without any arrangement to deliver is treated especially severely under the rules. Dealers should confirm that clients hold the securities or have a permissible delivery arrangement before accepting sell orders, and follow any required disclosure or marking of short positions under exchange and regulatory rules.[1]
Common mistake: Accepting a sell order on faith that the client will produce shares by settlement day.
Market Conduct
17. Information barriers and misuse of confidential information
Firms handling price-sensitive client or corporate information maintain physical and procedural separations, known as information barriers, between areas that may use the information and areas that may not. Dealers must not act on, or pass on, confidential information obtained through work, and should route suspected leaks to compliance for handling.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming informal verbal approval to share information substitutes for documented barrier controls.
Ethics, Codes and Standards of Professional Conduct for Securities Dealing
18. Ethical foundations of securities dealing
Professional codes for securities dealing rest on integrity, objectivity, professional competence, confidentiality and professionalism. Ethics goes beyond legal compliance: an action can be lawful yet unethical, and code breaches can attract discipline independently of statutory sanctions. Dealers should be able to apply these principles to ambiguous instructions and commercial pressure, not just recite them.[1]
Common mistake: Reasoning that anything not expressly prohibited by a written rule must therefore be acceptable.
Ethics, Codes and Standards of Professional Conduct for Securities Dealing
19. Identifying and managing conflicts of interest
A conflict arises when a dealer's or the firm's interests could compromise client interests, through proprietary positioning, competing client orders or incentive structures. The expected approach is to identify conflicts, avoid them where possible, and otherwise disclose and manage them fairly through firm processes. Dealers should escalate rather than improvise personal solutions.[1]
Common mistake: Believing a personal verbal disclosure to one client resolves a firm-level conflict of interest.
Ethics, Codes and Standards of Professional Conduct for Securities Dealing
20. Personal account dealing controls
Firms restrict employees' own-account trading through pre-clearance, blackout periods and prohibitions on dealing ahead of client orders. The purpose is to prevent staff exploiting knowledge of client activity or confidential information. Dealers must obtain required approvals before personal trades, including in instruments related to pending client business.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming pre-clearance rules apply only to stocks the dealer has personally researched in depth.
Ethics, Codes and Standards of Professional Conduct for Securities Dealing
21. Confidentiality and client data handling
Client information obtained in the course of dealing must be kept confidential, used only for permitted purposes, and handled under data protection expectations. Sharing client details for personal benefit, or with third parties without authority, breaches ethical duties and data rules alike. Dealers should follow firm protocols for storage, transmission and disposal of client data.[1]
Common mistake: Assuming confidentiality obligations end when the client relationship ends.
Securities Dealing Practices and Skills
22. Order recording and client priority
Client orders must be recorded with details such as time, price and quantity, and handled promptly and fairly. Where a dealer has both a client order and a house or personal interest in the same security, the client order takes priority. Accurate time-stamping and audit trails allow the firm to demonstrate that no client was disadvantaged.[1]
Common mistake: Working from memory and reconstructing order details after the fact instead of recording them at the time.
Securities Dealing Practices and Skills
23. Fair execution and allocation across clients
When dealing for multiple clients, execution and allocation must follow pre-set fair rules: no cherry-picking better fills for preferred clients or shifting worse fills to others. Aggregated orders must be allocated according to documented policy, typically pro-rata. Dealers should be able to explain the allocation method before clients participate in an aggregate order.[1]
Common mistake: Deciding allocations after observing which way the market subsequently moved.
Securities Dealing Practices and Skills
24. Error trades and corrections
Dealing errors, such as a wrong quantity, counter or client account, must be corrected under the firm's error procedures, which normally require immediate reporting to supervisors and compliance rather than concealment. Offsetting a mistake with an unauthorised or personal trade compounds the breach. Dealers should also know the exchange's expectations for reporting significant errors.[1]
Common mistake: Covering an error with a reverse trade without authorisation to avoid embarrassment.
Securities Dealing Practices and Skills
25. Trade confirmations and record keeping
Clients must receive timely, accurate confirmations of their transactions, and firms must retain order and trade records for prescribed periods. Records are the primary evidence in disputes and regulatory reviews, so accuracy at the point of entry matters far more than later reconstruction. Dealers should verify confirmations for errors before they are dispatched.[1]
Common mistake: Leaving amended or unconfirmed trades undocumented and hoping no one asks.
Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
26. Purpose and nature of the CPF Investment Scheme
CPFIS allows CPF members to invest part of their CPF savings in approved financial products, including certain listed shares, unit trusts and bonds, subject to CPF Board rules. These are retirement savings, so eligibility conditions, protections and permitted channels differ materially from ordinary cash investing. Dealers handling CPFIS orders must respect those differences.[1]
Common mistake: Treating CPF monies like ordinary cash without checking scheme eligibility and conditions.
Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
27. CPFIS eligible products and account structure
CPFIS investments are transacted and held through approved channels, typically an investment account with an appointed agent bank, and only products meeting CPF Board criteria may be purchased. Proceeds and balances are subject to scheme rules on reinvestment and use. Dealers must route CPFIS trades through the correct account rather than a standard cash trading account.[1]
Common mistake: Accepting a CPFIS instruction into a regular cash account because it is faster.
Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
28. Practical CPFIS dealing considerations
CPFIS trading adds considerations beyond cash dealing: eligibility screening of products, scheme fees and charges, and order and settlement arrangements set by CPF Board and agent banks. Scheme parameters are periodically revised, so dealers should confirm current details through their firm's CPFIS processes rather than relying on remembered figures.[1]
Common mistake: Quoting CPFIS limits, fees or eligibility rules from outdated sources.
Prevention of Financial Crimes
29. Customer due diligence and risk screening
Anti-money laundering controls require firms to identify and verify clients, understand the purpose of the relationship, and apply enhanced measures to higher-risk clients such as politically exposed persons. Dealers should recognise red flags, including reluctance to provide identity information and unusual funding patterns, and refer them to compliance before proceeding.[1]
Common mistake: Believing customer due diligence is solely the compliance department's responsibility.
Prevention of Financial Crimes
30. Suspicious transaction reporting and tipping off
When there are reasonable grounds to suspect that transactions involve criminal proceeds or other suspicious circumstances, a suspicious transaction report must be made, and tipping off the client is prohibited. Related records must be retained so transactions can be reconstructed. Dealers are the front line of detection and must escalate internally without alerting the client.[1]
Common mistake: Questioning the client directly about suspected money laundering, which risks a tipping-off breach.
How to revise for RES 1A
1. Map the syllabus against the current official study guide
Download the RES 1A study guide from the IBF Portal after registering, confirm you hold the latest version, and tag each of the eight syllabus domains to its chapters. IBF has issued updates to this guide, so working from an old PDF is a real risk. Access expires on your exam day, so plan downloads accordingly.
2. First pass on rules-heavy domains
Work through licensing, business operations and market conduct first, because they carry the most statutory content. Build a two-column habit: for every rule, note whether it comes from statute (MAS level) or exchange rules (SGX-ST level). Exam questions often test that distinction rather than the rule's wording.
3. Drill ethics and dealing practices with scenarios
For conflicts of interest, personal account dealing, order priority, allocation and error handling, write your own one-paragraph situations and decide what the correct action is before checking the guide. RES-type papers reward applied judgement; pure definition recall is rarely enough for the ethics domains.
4. Memorise mechanics for trading system and CPFIS
These domains are recall-heavy: order types, trading phases, settlement flow, buy-in consequences, CPFIS channels and eligible product categories. Build a one-page flow diagram from order entry to settlement and a separate CPFIS process sketch, then redraw both from memory until accurate. Verify any day counts or parameters against the current study guide rather than memory.
5. Convert AML content into checklists
Customer due diligence, PEP treatment, red flags, suspicious transaction reporting and tipping off lend themselves to checklist memorisation. Write a trigger-to-action list: what you must do when you see each red flag, including who you escalate to and, critically, what you must never say to the client.
6. Final week: timed practice and gap closing
With 80 MCQs in 2 hours, you have an average of 90 seconds per question. Run timed question sets, flag every question where you hesitated even if you answered correctly, and re-study the underlying concept rather than the answer. Re-read the IBF study guide updates summary for your version in the last few days before the exam.
Test your understanding
These original learning scenarios are for revision; they are not official examination questions.
1. During a client lunch, a director of a listed company casually mentions that his firm will announce a major acquisition this Friday, then asks you to buy shares for his brother-in-law's account. What should you do?
Show answer and explanation
Decline the order. The director appears to hold inside information that is not generally available and price sensitive, and placing the trade for a third party could constitute procuring insider dealing. You yourself are now in possession of inside information, so you must not trade for anyone on it, must not tip others, and should document the situation and escalate to compliance immediately.[1]
2. A long-standing client instructs you to buy 5,000 units of an eligible unit trust using his CPF savings and asks you to key it into the same cash trading account you use for his share orders. What is the correct course of action?
Show answer and explanation
Do not use the cash account. CPFIS investments must be routed through the approved CPFIS channel, typically an investment account with an agent bank, and only CPFIS-eligible products under CPF Board rules can be bought with CPF savings. Confirm eligibility and the client's CPFIS account arrangements first; placing the order in the cash account would breach the scheme's mechanics and jeopardise settlement.[1]
3. A client instructs you to sell 20,000 shares, but his account shows no holdings. He says the shares are at another broker and he will transfer them across. What issues should you consider before accepting the order?
Show answer and explanation
The order risks being an uncovered, or naked, short sale if there is no confirmed arrangement to deliver the securities, which the rules treat especially severely. You should verify the holding and the delivery path before accepting, or establish a permissible arrangement; otherwise a settlement failure can trigger CDP's buying-in process, with the purchase cost plus an additional penalty typically falling on the party that failed to deliver, plus compliance exposure.[1]
Frequently asked questions
What is the format and pass mark of the RES 1A exam?
RES 1A is a computer-based exam of 80 multiple-choice questions with a duration of 2 hours and a pass mark of 75%. Results are displayed on screen immediately after the exam, and candidates can print their result slips from their IBF Portal account on the next business day.[1]
Is there any exemption from RES 1A if I already hold other CMFAS modules?
IBF states there are no exemptions from sitting RES 1A itself because it is a Rules, Ethics and Skills exam. Note, however, that under the IBF module mapping the overall Rules, Ethics and Skills requirement for a principal that is an SGX-ST member can alternatively be met by holding RES 1B or RES 12B together with the RES 1BE1 SGX-ST add-on module. Holding RES 1B or RES 2A on its own does not satisfy the combination, so confirm your specific pathway with your employer and IBF before assuming you can avoid any module.[1]
Do I need to take modules other than RES 1A to deal in securities for an SGX member firm?
Yes. Under the IBF module mapping, dealing in capital markets products that are securities or CIS units for a principal that is an SGX-ST member requires a Rules, Ethics and Skills module together with a product knowledge module. The Rules, Ethics and Skills requirement can be met by RES 1A, or alternatively by RES 1B or RES 12B combined with the RES 1BE1 SGX-ST add-on. The product knowledge module is CM-EIP and/or CM-SIP, or the combined CM-CMP. For principals that are not members of an approved exchange, the RES 1B or RES 12B route applies without the add-on. Confirm your specific pathway with your employer and IBF.[1]
What happens after I pass RES 1A, and does passing make me licensed?
Passing satisfies the examination requirement for the relevant activity, but it is not itself a licence. The IBF states that after successfully completing the relevant examination modules, candidates must lodge a notification with the Monetary Authority of Singapore before they can carry out regulated activities. You should also complete your firm's appointment processes before dealing.[1]
How do I access the RES 1A study guide, and how current is it?
After successfully registering for the exam, candidates are given access to a PDF version of the study guide through the IBF Portal, and that access expires on the day of the registered examination. IBF updates study guides at intervals and advises candidates to ensure they have the latest version; the RES 1A guide showed a version 1.1 update dated November 2024 on the updates page.[2]
Official sources and review notes
Public IBF and SCI sources were checked on 16 September 2026 for syllabus scope and assessment details, with additional primary references where listed. References identify the relevant syllabus or subject source; explanations and examples are original teaching material. This guide selects important concepts and does not replace the full official study text. Confirm the applicable edition and any updates with the administrator before your assessment.