Securities Investment Business (Conduct of Business) Regulations (2026 Revision)

Summary

This document is the 2026 Revision of the Securities Investment Business (Conduct of Business) Regulations, made under the Securities Investment Business Act (2020 Revision). It consolidates the original 2003 regulations with the 2024 amendments (including a new annual client reporting statement requirement) into a single restated text as at 31 December 2025. It sets out detailed conduct-of-business rules that apply to all persons licensed under the Securities Investment Business Act (SIB licensees).

• General conduct requirements: Insurance, disclosure of CIMA regulation, staff dealing rules, gifts/inducements policies, record keeping, notifications, and an annual client reporting statement for licensees dealing with foreign funds.
• Advertising standards: Rules governing advertising by licensees.
• Standards for dealing with clients: Client classification, client agreements, contract notes, complaints handling, and periodic statements.
• Client asset and client money protection rules: Segregation, registration, custody, stock lending, reconciliation, and handling of shortfalls/excesses.

In short, this is CIMA's core conduct-of-business rulebook for securities licensees, prescribing how they must treat clients, safeguard client assets and money, keep records, and report certain information, with specific timing requirements for reconciliations and corrective action.

Key obligations

• A licensee must maintain insurance covering professional indemnity, professional liability of senior officers/corporate secretaries, and business interruption, appropriate to the size and complexity of its business.
• A licensee must file current details of its insurance with CIMA prior to renewal of its securities investment business licence.
• A licensee must disclose that it is regulated by CIMA in all correspondence, advertisements, and documents relating to its securities investment business, and must not represent that it is indemnified by CIMA or the government.
• A licensee must ensure senior officers and employees enter written undertakings restricting personal account dealing, obtain prior written consent for personal dealing in relevant securities, and report qualifying personal transactions to the licensee within 2 business days.
• A licensee must establish and maintain compliance procedures to prevent senior officers accepting gifts or inducements that could conflict with client duties.
• A licensee must establish and maintain record-keeping procedures covering advertisements, clients, senior officers/employees, and other prescribed matters.
• A licensee that deals with, or manages securities of, a foreign fund must provide an annual client reporting statement to CIMA containing the fund's name, jurisdiction of registration/incorporation, and (where applicable) listing exchange and overseas regulator.
• A licensee must segregate client assets and client money from its own, register and record client assets appropriately, and hold client money only with approved banks or as otherwise permitted.
• A licensee must perform reconciliations of client bank account balances and client transaction account balances with intermediaries as often as necessary, and at least once every 5 weeks.
• A licensee must reconcile records of collateral received from clients within 10 business days of the date to which the reconciliation relates.
• Where a reconciliation reveals a shortfall in client money, the licensee must cover the shortfall by paying its own money into the relevant client account until the discrepancy is resolved.
• Where a client money calculation shows a shortfall or excess, the licensee must pay in any shortfall or withdraw any excess by close of business on the day the calculation is performed.
• A licensee must correct any discrepancy identified in a reconciliation as soon as possible, unless it results solely from timing differences.

Applies to

licensees under the Securities Investment Business Act (securities investment business licensees), securities investment business intermediaries, foreign funds (in relation to annual client reporting statement obligations of their managers/licensees)

Deadlines

• within 2 business days: Senior officers/employees must report to the licensee any personal-account transaction entered into otherwise than through the licensee, where permission was required.
• at least once in every 5 weeks: Licensees must perform reconciliations of client bank account and client transaction account balances.
• within 10 business days of the date to which the reconciliation relates: Licensees must reconcile records of collateral received from clients.
• by close of business on the day the calculation is performed: Any shortfall must be paid into a client bank account, or any excess withdrawn, following a client money calculation.
• prior to the renewal of a licensee's securities investment business licence: Licensees must file current insurance details with the Authority.

Related documents

• This document replaces Securities Investment Business (Conduct of Business) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 (SL 6 of 2020)
• This document is made under Securities Investment Business Law (2020 Revision)
• Securities Investment Business (Conduct of Business) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 (SL 6 of 2020) amends this document