MAS proposes tighter board rules for S’pore banks, insurers

The proposed updates build on revisions made in November 2021 to MAS’ guidelines on corporate governance for banks and insurers, as well as their designated financial holding companies.

Published Sep 30, 2026, 03:20 PM

Updated Sep 30, 2026, 03:20 PM

SINGAPORE – Banks and insurers incorporated here could soon see stricter corporate governance requirements such as an increased minimum board size and a majority of independent directors on the boards.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is seeking feedback on proposed updates to corporate governance regulations for financial institutions (FIs) as part of its regular review of regulatory standards to keep them current and effective.

“Strong corporate governance remains fundamental to well-run and resilient FIs. Banks and insurers play particularly critical roles in safeguarding depositor and policyholder interests. They perform important functions in supporting households, businesses and the wider economy,” MAS said on Sept 29.

Updates have been proposed in four main areas: director independence, board composition, key appointments, and streamlining requirements for lower-impact FIs.

Noting that “clear independence criteria support objective judgement and effective challenge”, MAS proposes to refine the criteria for determining whether directors are independent from management, business relationships and substantial shareholders.

Currently, directors are assessed for independence based on their relationships with the FI, its subsidiaries and substantial shareholders, as well as whether they have served on the board continuously for nine years or more.

The proposed criteria widens the test to cover relationships with the FI’s parent and sister companies, as well as certain business dealings involving directors’ immediate family members.

Directors who have served nine years or more in total, rather than continuously, would also be deemed non-independent.

MAS is also proposing that the boards of domestic systemically important banks would need at least seven directors, while full banks, domestic systemically important insurers and their parent companies would need at least five.

A majority of directors would also have to be fully independent at major banks and insurers.

The regulator said these refinements are intended to ensure that boards continue to have the breadth of perspectives and expertise and independent oversight needed as institutions grow in scale and complexity.

Domestic systemically important banks are DBS Bank, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC. Domestic systemically important insurers consist of AIA, Income Insurance, Prudential and Great Eastern.

MAS also proposes to require prior approval for additional key appointments, such as chairperson of nominating committee of locally incorporated banks and insurers, and chief information officer of domestic systematically important banks.

This reflects the increasing importance of succession planning, technology and information risk management at the board and senior management levels.

Another proposed change would remove the need for prior approval of certain board and senior management appointments for FIs with less retail reach or lower systemic importance, to keep regulatory requirements risk-proportionate.

Overall, the proposed changes strengthen safeguards in specific areas where risks and practices have evolved, while streamlining requirements for FIs with less impact on customers and the financial system, MAS said.

FIs th at are more systemically important or have greater retail reach can have a larger impact on customers and the financial system, and are therefore subject to more stringent corporate governance requirements.

Interested parties have until Dec 9 to share their feedback here .

Banks and financial institutions

Corporate governance

拟议的更新是在 2021 年 11 月对新加坡金融管理局关于银行和保险公司及其指定金融控股公司的公司治理指南进行修订的基础上制定的。

发布于2026年9月30日下午3:20

更新于2026年9月30日下午3:20

新加坡——在此注册成立的银行和保险公司可能很快将面临更严格的公司治理要求，例如增加董事会最低规模和董事会中独立董事占多数。

新加坡金融管理局 (MAS) 正在就金融机构 (FI) 公司治理法规的拟议更新征求意见，这是其定期审查监管标准以保持其时效性和有效性的一部分。

新加坡金融管理局（MAS）9月29日表示：“健全的公司治理仍然是金融机构良好运营和保持韧性的根本。银行和保险公司在保障存款人和保单持有人的利益方面发挥着尤为关键的作用。它们在支持家庭、企业和更广泛的经济方面发挥着重要作用。”

已提出在四个主要领域进行更新：董事独立性、董事会组成、关键任命以及对低影响金融机构的简化要求。

新加坡金融管理局指出，“明确的独立性标准有助于客观判断和有效质疑”，并提议完善判断董事是否独立于管理层、业务关系和主要股东的标准。

目前，董事的独立性评估依据是他们与金融机构、其子公司和主要股东的关系，以及他们是否在董事会连续任职九年或以上。

拟议的标准扩大了测试范围，涵盖与金融机构的母公司和姊妹公司的关系，以及涉及董事直系亲属的某些商业交易。

董事累计任职九年或以上（而非连续任职九年或以上）也将被视为非独立董事。

新加坡金融管理局还提议，国内具有系统重要性的银行的董事会至少需要七名董事，而全资银行、国内具有系统重要性的保险公司及其母公司至少需要五名董事。

在大型银行和保险公司中，大多数董事也必须完全独立。

监管机构表示，这些改进旨在确保随着机构规模和复杂性的增长，董事会继续拥有所需的广度视野、专业知识和独立监督。

国内具有系统重要性的银行包括星展银行、华侨银行、大华银行、花旗银行、马来亚银行、渣打银行和汇丰银行。国内具有系统重要性的保险公司包括友邦保险、Income Insurance、保诚保险和Great Eastern。

新加坡金融管理局还提议，对其他一些关键任命，如本地注册银行和保险公司提名委员会主席以及国内系统重要性银行的首席信息官，要求事先获得批准。

这反映出继任计划、技术和信息风险管理在董事会和高级管理层中的重要性日益增加。

另一项拟议的变更将取消对零售覆盖范围较小或系统重要性较低的金融机构的某些董事会和高级管理层任命事先获得批准的要求，以保持监管要求与风险成比例。

新加坡金融管理局表示，总体而言，拟议的变更加强了风险和做法发生变化的特定领域的保障措施，同时简化了对金融机构的要求，对客户和金融体系的影响较小。

具有更重要系统意义或零售覆盖面更广的金融机构，对客户和金融体系的影响更大，因此需要遵守更严格的公司治理要求。

感兴趣的各方可在12月9日前在此处分享他们的反馈意见。

银行和金融机构

公司治理