Financial advertising in Singapore answers to two layers of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) rules: the product advertisement requirements in the Financial Advisers Regulations and the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations, and MAS's Guidelines on Standards of Conduct for Digital Advertising Activities, in effect from 25 March 2026 for financial institutions and the marketers who advertise for them. Under the regulations, a product advertisement is not false or misleading, gives a fair and balanced view of the product, presents information clearly and legibly, carries the statement "This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore." and is approved before it goes out. MAS's Guidelines on Fair Dealing set the outcomes customers are owed, and MAS's Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence Risk Management, issued on 7 October 2026, take effect on 7 October 2027.
What MAS's Advertising Rules Cover, and Who They Apply To
MAS's advertising rules reach every financial institution that promotes a financial product or service in Singapore, together with the representatives and appointed third parties, content creators included, who promote it on the institution's behalf. MAS published the Guidelines on Standards of Conduct for Digital Advertising Activities on 25 September 2025. MAS states that they apply to all financial institutions and their marketers who advertise financial products and services to customers via digital media, social media platforms included, and its guidelines page lists licensed and exempt financial advisers, banking, trust business, capital markets services, payments, insurance and insurance brokers among the entities they apply to. In its media release of the same day, MAS said the guidelines apply to financial institutions and their appointed third parties, online content creators included, and that their key safeguards cover the challenges and limitations of digital media, clear disclosures and policies and procedures to monitor digital advertising activities.
What do the product advertisement regulations require?
Regulation 22 of the Financial Advisers Regulations sets seven requirements that every product advertisement meets before a specified financial adviser or its representative disseminates or publishes it, whether directly or through another person. The regulation applies to advertisements for investment products, and the requirements are:
- the advertisement is not false or misleading
- it provides a fair and balanced view of the investment product
- it presents information in a clear manner, in text or otherwise
- in visual form, it is clearly legible
- in an email or on a website, it uses at least 10-point Times New Roman or a visually equivalent font, with footnotes no smaller than the sizes the regulation sets
- it contains the statement "This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore."
- it has been approved under regulation 22A before dissemination or publication.
Regulation 46 of the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations sets the same requirements for product advertisements about capital markets products. The Financial Advisers Regulations define an advertisement broadly: any dissemination or conveyance of information in connection with the promotion of a product or service, in any form, including through the Internet or other media.
Who approves a product advertisement before it goes out?
Regulation 22A places the approval inside the financial adviser: its senior management, an agent of the adviser or a committee of the adviser approves each product advertisement before it is disseminated. Each approver is satisfied that the advertisement meets the first six requirements, records the reasons in writing and gives written approval, with those reasons, to the financial adviser. Where senior management or a committee approves, every member does so.
What penalties apply to a breach?
A specified person who disseminates a product advertisement in breach of regulation 22 commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of up to S$25,000. MAS also takes action beyond the advertisement itself: when it announced the digital advertising guidelines, MAS announced advisory letters to five content creators over concerns that they had provided financial advice without a licence, and stated that persons who continue to provide financial advice without a licence will face enforcement action.
Where do the MAS fair dealing guidelines fit?
MAS's Guidelines on Fair Dealing apply to all financial institutions and make the Board and senior management responsible for delivering five fair dealing outcomes to customers. The guidelines page describes them as covering those responsibilities, an explanation of each outcome, key principles at each stage of a product's life cycle, and good and poor practices with self-assessment questions. MAS describes the outcomes as including that customers receive clear, relevant and timely information to make informed financial decisions, and that financial institutions handle complaints in an independent, effective and prompt manner. MAS published the updated guidelines on 30 May 2024, after a consultation that proposed widening their scope to all products and services financial institutions offer their customers.
What does MAS expect from cryptocurrency advertising?
MAS expects digital payment token service providers to keep their marketing off public channels in Singapore and to promote their services only on their own corporate websites, mobile applications and official social media accounts. Under the guidelines MAS issued on 17 January 2022, that means no advertising on public transport, public websites, social media platforms, or broadcast and print media, no physical cryptocurrency ATMs in public areas and no social media influencers engaged to promote the services to the general public. MAS also expects providers not to portray cryptocurrency trading in a way that trivialises its high risks.
General guidance, not legal advice.
What MAS's Rules Mean for Your Marketing and SEO Copy
When a specified financial adviser or its representative promotes an investment product, the page, post or ad that does so falls inside the Financial Advisers Regulations' definition of an advertisement, so product pages, comparison pages, meta descriptions, social posts and email campaigns carry regulation 22's requirements, with its font rules applying to emails and websites. The Sixth Schedule of the Financial Advisers Regulations gives examples of product advertisements that are false or misleading, unbalanced or unclear. The table lists the claim types most common in financial search copy, with the rule behind each one.
| Claim type | What the rule says | What to check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Returns and benefits | A statement on returning the principal or on the benefit of holding a product needs an unbiased description of its risks, with any warning, disclaimer or qualification given prominence proportionate to the statement | Every return or benefit claim carries an unbiased risk description with proportionate prominence | Financial Advisers Regulations, Sixth Schedule, para 2(a) |
| "Guaranteed" | A representation that principal or returns are guaranteed names the guarantor and states clearly that there is no assurance the guarantor fulfils the guarantee | Headlines, rate tables and ad copy that use the word "guaranteed" | Sixth Schedule, para 2(c) |
| Past performance | Historical information carries a statement that it is historical and that past performance is not indicative of future performance | Performance charts, fund pages and social graphics | Sixth Schedule, para 2(d) |
| "Risk-free" or "low risk" | An advertisement that gives the impression of profit without risk, or suggests a non-guaranteed product carries low or nil risk of losing principal, is not fair and balanced | Titles, meta descriptions and answer blocks | Sixth Schedule, para 2(e) and 2(g) |
| Deposit comparisons | An advertisement suggesting a product is, or is comparable to, a deposit is not fair and balanced | Savings and yield comparison pages | Sixth Schedule, para 2(f) |
| "Free" reports and tools | A promise of a free report, analysis or service that is not supplied in its entirety without conditions is false or misleading | Lead magnets and calculators | Sixth Schedule, para 1(h) |
| Charts and formulas | A chart, formula or device presented as a way to decide what or when to buy or sell discloses its limitations prominently | Calculators, signal charts and tool pages | Sixth Schedule, para 1(g) |
| Jargon | Jargon or technical terms are defined in a way a reasonable reader understands | Product explainers and help pages | Sixth Schedule, para 3(b) |
| The MAS statement and font size | Each product advertisement carries "This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore."; email and website product advertisements use at least 10-point Times New Roman or visually equivalent type, with the prescribed footnote minimums | Page templates, email footers and landing pages | Regulation 22(2)(e) and (f) |
| Licence and regulated status | MAS's Financial Institutions Directory lists the institutions it regulates and their authorised activities; its Investor Alert List names unregulated persons wrongly perceived as licensed or authorised by MAS | Every "licensed by MAS" or "regulated by MAS" claim matches the directory entry | MAS Directories |
Sources: Financial Advisers Regulations, regulation 22 and Sixth Schedule, Singapore Statutes Online, current version as at 24 October 2026; MAS, Directories. All checked 24 October 2026.
Does a website product page count as a product advertisement?
A product page that promotes an investment product meets the Financial Advisers Regulations' definition of an advertisement, because that definition covers information disseminated through the Internet in connection with the promotion of any product or service. MAS's digital advertising guidelines add managing the challenges and limitations of digital media, and ensuring clear disclosures, to the institution's key safeguards.
How do the rules treat influencers, affiliates and content creators?
MAS's digital advertising guidelines cover the third parties a financial institution appoints, online content creators included, so the institution stays responsible for how they promote its products. Alongside the guidelines, MAS and the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore published a guide on responsible financial content creation. It covers when a licence from MAS becomes necessary, the steps to take before promoting an entity's products or services and the disclosure of compensation received. The ASAS advertising code guide covers the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice, and the PDPA and DNC marketing guide covers consent for marketing messages.
Do the digital advertising guidelines apply to insurance advertising in Singapore?
Yes: MAS lists insurance and insurance brokers among the entities its digital advertising guidelines apply to, and its fair dealing guidelines apply to all financial institutions. An insurer's or broker's search pages, social posts and influencer arrangements therefore sit inside the same digital advertising safeguards as a bank's or a fund manager's.
General guidance, not legal advice.
What MAS's Rules Mean for AI Answers and AI-Generated Content
The product advertisement rules attach to the advertisement and to the person who disseminates it, not to the tool that drafted it, so an AI-drafted product advertisement follows the requirements and approval route that apply to the advertiser and the product: regulation 22A under the Financial Advisers Regulations, or regulation 46AA under the Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations. Regulation 22 applies whether a financial adviser publishes directly or "through or in collaboration with another person", and the approver records written reasons for being satisfied that the advertisement complies.
Is copy drafted with an AI tool held to a different standard?
No: an AI-drafted advertisement faces the same tests as any other draft, and its approval follows regulation 22A or regulation 46AA, as applicable. Check every draft for guarantee, risk and deposit-comparison claims against the Sixth Schedule, whoever or whatever wrote it.
What do MAS's AI risk management guidelines add?
MAS's Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence Risk Management, issued on 7 October 2026, apply to all financial institutions and all forms of AI, and take effect on 7 October 2027. MAS expects institutions to oversee AI risks with clear accountabilities, to identify and assess their AI use across its life cycle, and to apply controls such as data governance, testing, human oversight and monitoring in proportion to the risk. MAS states that institutions remain accountable for AI used in the services they deliver, including AI that third parties develop, operate or provide. Sections 3 and 4 apply from 7 October 2027 and sections 5 and 6 by 7 October 2028. MAS's consultation on the guidelines described them as complementing its FEAT principles and IMDA's Model AI Governance Framework, which the Model AI Governance Framework guide explains.
What do AI assistants repeat about a financial brand?
In Aemorph's working model, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity describe a bank, insurer or fund manager from the public sources they find, your own pages and profiles among them, so an unbalanced claim on your site becomes material for their answers. The free Hallucination Report compares what the AI engines say about your business with what your website currently says, and flags where they conflict.
General guidance, not legal advice.
How Aemorph Checks Financial Claims Before Publication
Before it publishes, Aemorph checks every financial and insurance claim it writes for two things: a disclaimer is present, and nothing promises a financial outcome, and your nominated point of contact signs off every regulated claim. Aemorph is not a law firm. It does not review your copy against MAS's regulations or guidelines, it does not confirm that any advertisement complies, and its editorial checks do not replace your institution's compliance review or the regulation 22A approval: as the advertiser, your institution holds those obligations.
| Check | Applies to | Standard | Checked against | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial and insurance claims | Financial services and insurance clients | Disclaimers present, no promised financial outcome | Your point of contact's sign-off | Before publication |
| Testimonials | Every regulated client | Used only where the law permits | Your point of contact's sign-off | Before publication |
| AI use and AI-generated content | Every client | Each published fact traces to an approved source and a named approver | Your point of contact's sign-off | Before Aemorph publishes |
| Every regulated claim | Every regulated client | Approved by the person your business nominates | Your point of contact's sign-off | Before Aemorph publishes |
Source: Aemorph compliance practice, October 2026.
Who signs off the claims on your pages?
You decide who signs off: the business owner, the chief marketing officer or your compliance team. Aemorph publishes a regulated claim only after that person approves it, and the facts in your verified record are the facts your institution supplies and approves, including your licence details as your institution states them. Inside the Showstopper Sensor (Sprint 1), a 30-day showstopper-answer sprint for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, the same sign-off covers the showstopper answers before they go live.
General guidance, not legal advice.
Singapore Financial Services and Insurance Brands: Start With a Free Strategic Conversation
Singapore financial services and insurance brands that want search and AI visibility built on claims their own compliance owners have approved start with a free strategic conversation with Aemorph. Aemorph is headquartered in Singapore and replies to every message within 24 hours. The financial services page sets out how Aemorph runs SEO, AEO and GEO for financial and insurance brands.