Important Message for Non-Singapore residents

 

Restrictions on product access for retail investors residing in the EEA

Due to the regulatory requirements of the European Union, certain products offered by DBS will not be available to retail investors who are residents (regardless of nationality) in the European Economic Area (EEA)1. If you are resident in the EEA, please read this section carefully before proceeding with any transaction.

The regulation on key information documents (KIDs) for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (Regulation (EU) No. 1286/2014, commonly referred to as the PRIIPs Regulation) came into effect on 1 January 2018. Due to the PRIIPs Regulation, DBS is currently unable to offer structured notes and other products falling within the scope of the PRIIPs Regulation to retail investors resident in the EEA.

A retail investor is defined as a client who does not meet the criteria to qualify as a professional client. Such criteria are set out in Annex II of Directive 2014/65/EU (commonly referred to as MiFID II)2. Please note that this is different from the “professional investor” and “accredited investor” criteria applicable in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. For clients whose beneficial owners are resident in the EEA, by default, we have classified them as retail investors.

The PRIIPs Regulation obliges DBS, when advising on or selling a packaged retail and insurance-based investment product (PRIIP)3 to a retail investor in the EEA, to provide such investor with a pre-contractual product disclosure document in the form of a KID. As our product manufacturers are evaluating the impact of the PRIIPs Regulation, KIDs will not be available for any of the structured notes or products (regardless of issuer) on our product platform unless our product manufacturer informs us otherwise. As such, until further notice, DBS will not be able to avail these products (including non-UCITs funds and ETFs4) from 1 January 2018 to retail clients in the EEA.

For EEA clients who had before 1 January 2018 acquired such products through us, they may continue to hold and/or sell these products in or through their DBS accounts. We encourage our clients to speak to their Relationship Manager to better understand their options and address their queries. For more information on the PRIIPs Regulation, please visit the European Commission website at go.dbs.com/priips. Please contact your Relationship Manager for enquiries.

1 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, *Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
*Gibraltar is not an EEA country but implements EEA/ PRIIPs regulation due to some form of special status.
2 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0065
3 A PRIIP is any investment where the amount repayable to the investor is subject to fluctuations because of exposure to reference values or to the performance of one or more assets which are not directly purchased by the investor. PRIIPs will include investment products such as investment funds, life insurance policies with an investment element, structured products and structured deposits.
4 Non-UCIT refers to non-Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities. ETFs refers to Exchange Traded Funds Investments.

 

Australia Wholesale-Client Certification: Restrictions on product/service access for persons resident in Australia

Due to Australia’s regulatory requirements, certain products and services offered by DBS may only be made available to wholesale clients in Australia. For more information, please refer to the FAQs.

Frequently Asked Questions

As a Retail Client, there will be limitation on our ability to offer you certain products and services including but not limited to the following:
  • Deposits
  • Unsecured Credit Facilities
  • Loans
  • Investments: Unit Trusts/ Equities/ Currency Linked Investments/ Structured Deposits/ Bonds/ Structured Notes/ Singapore Savings Bonds/ Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)/ Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)/ Margin Lending - Investment Financing/ Shares Financing
  • Insurance policies

In compliance with the Australia’s Corporation Act, DBS Bank Ltd. may provide certain financial products and services only to Wholesale Client in Australia.

Due to Australia’s regulatory requirements, DBS Bank Ltd1 may only offer certain products and services to Australia residents who are Wholesale Clients.

A valid certification by a qualified accountant certifying you qualify for wholesale client status as follows:

Qualification for Wholesale Client Status
(a) net assets of at least A$2.5 million, or
(b) a gross income for each of the last two financial years of at least A$250,000 per year.

For entities incorporated in Australia, DBS Bank Ltd may only offer certain products and services if the entity qualifies as a Wholesale Client or Professional Investor2 .

1We would like to inform you that where DBS Bank Ltd. (the “Bank”) provides financial services in Australia to wholesale clients, the Bank will be acting from its Head Office in Singapore (“DBS Bank Singapore”) which is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence under the Corporations Act 2001 of Australia.
DBS Bank Singapore is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the laws of Singapore, which differ from Australian laws. DBS Bank Singapore holds a banking licence and is an Exempt Capital Market Service License holder as defined in the Securities & Futures Act (Chapter 289 of Singapore) and an Exempt Financial Adviser as defined in the Financial Advisers Act (Chapter 110 of Singapore). 

2 Professional Investor is defined in Section 9 of the Corporations Act as a person who has or controls gross assets of at least AUD$10m (including any assets held by an associate or under a trust that the person manages. For assessment of professional investor, Company will be required to provide proof of assets.

A qualified accountant’s certificate stating either;

(a) net assets of at least A$2.5million or
(b) a gross income for each of the last two financial years of at least A$250,000 per year.

The certificate is valid for two years from the date of the certification.

Without the Wholesale Client Certification, there will be limitations on our ability to offer you certain products and services including but not limited to the following:

  • Deposits
  • Unsecured Credit Facilities
  • Loans
  • Investments: Unit Trusts/ Equities/ Currency Linked Investments/ Structured Deposits/ Bonds/ Structured Notes/ Singapore Savings Bonds/ Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)/ Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)/ Margin Lending - Investment Financing/ Shares Financing
  • Insurance policies

DBS Bank Ltd will not be able to make available new or additional products/services to you. However, we shall continue to provide services to you for the existing product holdings.

Yes, each individual client who resides in Australia will be required to complete and submit the Wholesale Client Certificate.

No, the joint account holder who is residing in Singapore may continue to transact in any products.

DBS may take approximately 3-5 days to process your request. We will notify you once your request has been processed and your status has been updated in our records.
 

Clients residing in Australia - Limitations to Banking Services and Investment Offerings Available to Clients Residing in Australia

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”) has postponed the implementation of the regulatory changes that will affect the Bank’s ability to offer the full suite of financial products and services to clients residing in Australia. We will implement these regulatory changes in first quarter 2023 at the latest to meet the ASIC’s implementation deadline. For more details on the limitations in banking services and investment offerings, please refer to the FAQs.

Frequently Asked Questions

We are informing you on this matter as our Bank records have you as an Australian resident. If you are no longer residing in Australia, you may wish to update your residential address record with us. You may update your residential address (which may be different from your mailing address) via any of the following:

  1. To update via internet banking – After login, under the top menu, select More Request > Other Services > Update Mailing Address > Select and update My Residential Address
  2. To update via digibank app – After login, please select MORE from the bottom menu > Update Contact Details
  3. For other channels of update, please visit HERE.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”) has announced regulatory changes to its licensing regime for foreign financial service providers. As a result, for clients residing in Australia (AU), there will be limitations on DBS Bank Ltd.’s ability to continue offering certain products and services (“limitations”). We will implement these regulatory changes in first quarter 2023 at the latest to meet the ASIC’s implementation deadline.

No. Products and Services Limitations to Banking Services and Investment Offerings Available to Clients Residing in Australia
1 Deposits
  • Transactions for operation of account (e.g. incoming and outgoing transfers) may continue
  • No new account may be opened
  • No top-up of existing fixed deposits
  • Rollover of fixed deposits at prevailing rates and before maturity is permitted
  • Funds may not be used to purchase new investment products
2 Investments
  • Redemption / sale of existing investment is permitted
  • No new holdings or transfer-in of investment products
  • Subscription pursuant to a corporate action arising from existing holdings may continue
  • Clients may continue to hold on to existing investment holdings
  • Existing Regular Savings Plan will be terminated.
3 Singapore Government Schemes
  • Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS)
  • Central Provident Fund Investment Scheme (CPFIS)
  • No opening of new SRS/CPFIS accounts
  • No new positions or subscriptions
  • Clients may continue to hold on to existing holdings in SRS/CPFIS
4 Others  
Credit Facilities for investments or trading
  • Existing credit facilities may be maintained, however no refinancing or increase in credit limits may be offered
  • No new credit facilities will be offered for investment/trading purposes
Managed Services, e.g. Discretionary Portfolio Management / Services
  • Client may maintain existing accounts and rebalancing activities may continue
  • No top-up allowed and no new accounts may be offered
  • Managed Advisory Investment Services (“MAIS”) offerings may be ceased

Yes, the limitations to banking and investment services will impact all clients residing in Australia, including clients who have been certified as a Wholesale Client.

Existing clients residing in Australia who have a valid wholesale client certificate, may continue to purchase investment products and services until the implementation date. For more information on the wholesale client certificate please visit Australia - Wholesale Client Certificate.

Generally, the limitations will only apply to account holders who reside in Australia. A joint account holder residing outside Australia may continue to enjoy banking services and/or transact investments on behalf of the joint account.

Entities which are incorporated in Australia will be subject to the limitations abovementioned, even if the instructions/orders are given by an authorized signatory who resides outside Australia.

For entities which are not incorporated in Australia, the limitations generally only apply to instructions/orders given by an authorized signatory residing in Australia.

You may hold on to, or liquidate your existing investments, but you will not be able to purchase any new investments.

Yes.

The Bank will not be able to assist with your request to open new accounts or purchase investments using your CPFIS/SRS Accounts.

FX spot transactions, for the purpose of online purchases and remittances, will not be subject to the limitations abovementioned. However, FX contracts for investment / trading purposes will be restricted.

Please scan the QR code below to download DBS digibank. Thereafter please visit https://go.dbs.com/sg-digibanksetup to set up your DBS digibank account.