The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) require financial institutions to limit public prospecting and marketing roadshows to designated commercial venues. Representatives must also explicitly disclose the commercial nature of their engagement at the point of initial contact and obtain the consumer’s affirmative consent before presenting any financial products. MAS announced the changes in a media release on 12 October 2026, alongside a response paper to its April 2023 consultation (P002-2023), which closed on 30 June 2023.
MAS will update its Guidelines on Standards of Conduct for Marketing and Distribution Activities (FSG-G02) in 2027, and firms will then have nine months to comply. Street canvassing and door-to-door prospecting stay banned.
"Consumers should not feel pressured or caught off guard when approached about financial products and services. These enhanced safeguards strengthen standards of conduct for public prospecting activities, helping to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and professionally while allowing financial institutions to continue engaging consumers through appropriate channels," by Lim Tuang Lee, Assistant Managing Director (Capital Markets) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Regulatory Perimeter and Scope of Application
MAS defines a public place as anywhere outside a financial institution's official premises, such as shopping malls, exhibition halls, corporate venues and event spaces. The format doesn't matter: closed-door sessions, by-invitation events, and events that require pre-registration all count. Temporary locations set up by banks and card issuers under MAS Notices 603 and 647 also count as public places.
The updated Guidelines apply to every financial institution that markets to retail customers in public places, whatever the product. Firms that deal only with accredited investors are outside the scope. So are pre-arranged one-to-one meetings that a customer has agreed to in advance, although MAS warns that booking several prospects at the same time and place under that label would amount to a roadshow. Events held purely for brand awareness, with no selling or advice, are excluded.
For investment products and long-term accident and health (LT A&H) policies, MAS will go further and make the safeguards legally binding requirements in new Notices, which it will consult on after publishing the updated Guidelines. Where a firm sells a mix of products at one event, it follows the Guidelines for all of them and the Notices for the investment and LT A&H products. Boards and senior management stay accountable. They can delegate day-to-day oversight to competent staff or committees, but not the accountability.
The new safeguards
Say who you are, then ask. MAS notes that many representatives already wear lanyards with their name and firm, yet complaints persist that they are not forthcoming about who they are and why they are approaching people. Representatives will have to state their intention to market financial products before starting, and get consent.
"While MAS will not require financial institutions to document consumers' verbal consent, financial institutions should have appropriate mechanisms to check that their representatives obtain such consent," by the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Those checks could include oversight on the ground or mystery shopping. Pre-registering for an event can count as consent, as long as sign-up clearly states that financial products will be marketed there.
Commercial premises only. Events outside a firm's premises must be held at venues it can rent or use with permission, such as exhibition halls, corporate conference rooms, and common areas managed by building management. Pedestrian walkways and residential spaces are off the table. MAS has dropped its proposed minimum of 25 square metres per event after firms cited the cost and scarcity of space. Instead, each firm must set its own policies on how much space a proper setting needs, rather than leaving it to individual agencies or representatives.
Stay near the booth. Prospecting must stay within 5 metres of the marked event space, and firms must offer a channel for the public to give event feedback.
Someone in charge. Each event needs a Public Prospecting Management Officer (PPMO) to oversee representatives. PPMOs should be senior and have a good compliance record. They do not have to be employees or come from an independent function, so firms can use external providers or agency leaders. MAS will not set a minimum number of PPMOs, and firms may back up on-site supervision with digital monitoring.
Crowd-pullers. Promoters hired to draw passers-by to a booth will need approval under a firm-wide framework. They may not sell or collect personal data and must say who they are, which firm they represent, and why they are approaching people.
What MAS dropped
Industry pushback changed several proposals. MAS will not ban sales at the first meeting, add a cooling-off period before a purchase can be made, or lengthen the existing 14-day free-look period for life policies and 7-day cancellation period for collective investment schemes, which it says already give customers time to reconsider.
It has also dropped plans to ban any mention of gifts or restrict gift offers. Firms will instead need a gift governance framework approved by senior management, which will be a binding requirement for investment products and LT A&H policies.
Door-to-door and telemarketing
The ban on street canvassing and door-to-door prospecting, first introduced in 2020 as a pandemic measure, stays. MAS says complaints about harassment and intrusion kept coming in after 2022 even though the activities were banned, and that cheaper lead sources such as digital platforms exist. The door-to-door ban covers homes only, not corporate premises.
The inform-and-consent and gift rules will also apply to telemarketing, meaning voice calls to retail customers without an appointment. Consent must be obtained afresh on every call, and SMS is out of scope. Separately, MAS will lift the ban on selling Medisave-approved policies, such as Integrated Shield Plans, by phone, subject to call-backs for certain clients, such as older customers who are not proficient in English, and for sales by representatives with poor balanced scorecard grades, with records kept of those call-backs.
What firms should do now
These changes align with MAS's guidelines for digital advertising activities, introduced in September 2025, and continue MAS's focus on board accountability for conduct, as seen recently in its proposals on bank and insurer governance. Insurers, financial advisory firms, and banks running roadshows should start reviewing venue contracts, event-space policies, PPMO arrangements, promoter approvals, gift frameworks, and consent scripts now.
MAS strongly encourages firms to prepare and adopt safeguards early where possible.
