On 19/06/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/06/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/06/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 27/12/1996.
37.
—(1) Subject to this section, every futures broker —
(a)
shall treat and deal with all moneys, securities or property received by him from a customer as belonging to that customer;
(b)
shall account in a separate trust account, designated or evidenced as such, for all the moneys, securities or property received from the customer or accruing to the customer pursuant to paragraph (a); and
(c)
shall not commingle such moneys, securities or property with the funds of the futures broker or use them to margin, guarantee or to secure the contracts or extend the credit of any customer or person other than the person for whom they are held.
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(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the moneys, securities or property received by a futures broker from his customers may, for convenience and for the benefit of his customers, be commingled and deposited in the same account or accounts with —
(a)
a bank licensed under the Banking Act [Cap. 19] or a merchant bank approved under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act [Cap. 186];
(b)
a clearing house, whether in or outside Singapore;
(c)
another futures broker; or
(d)
any person who may be approved by the Authority for the purpose.
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(3) Subject to any regulations made under this Act, a futures broker shall not withdraw money received by him and deposited in a separate trust account pursuant to subsection (1), otherwise than for the purpose of —
(a)
making a payment to, or in accordance with the instructions of, a person entitled to the money;
(b)
purchasing, margining, guaranteeing, securing, transferring, adjusting or settling —
(i)
dealings in futures contracts; or
(ii)
dealings in leveraged foreign exchange trading,
effected by the broker on the instructions, or on behalf, as the case may be, of a customer of the futures broker;
(c)
defraying brokerage and other proper charges incurred in respect of dealings in futures contracts or leveraged foreign exchange trading transactions effected by the futures broker on the instructions, or on behalf, as the case may be, of a customer of the broker;
(d)
reimbursing himself to the extent of any residual financial interest that he may have in the account as is mentioned in subsection (4);
(e)
investing the money in such manner as may be prescribed; or
(f)
making a payment that is otherwise authorised by law.
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(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a futures broker may have a residual financial interest in a customer’s trust account and from time to time may advance from his own funds sufficient money to prevent any or all customers’ trust accounts from becoming under-margined.
(5) The Authority may exempt a futures broker or any class of futures brokers or any transaction or class of transactions relating to trading in futures contracts or leveraged foreign exchange trading from the requirements in subsection (1) subject to such terms and conditions as in the opinion of the Authority provides reasonable protection for customers.
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(6) Moneys, securities or property received from a customer and held by a futures broker in a separate trust account under subsection (1) shall not be available for payment of the debts of the futures broker to a creditor of the futures broker or be liable to be attached or taken in execution under the order or process of any court at the instance of such creditor unless the creditor is a customer of the futures broker and the debt owed to the creditor was incurred directly in connection with trading in futures contracts or leveraged foreign exchange trading carried out on behalf of that customer.
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(7) Nothing in this section shall take away or affect a lawful claim or lien that a futures broker has against, or on, any moneys, securities or property held in an account under subsection (1).
(8) Nothing in this Act or any written law shall prevent a Futures Exchange or a clearing house, with the approval of the Authority, from using the moneys, securities or property in a trust account to meet the obligations of a futures broker, being a member of the Exchange or the clearing house, who defaults, if —
(a)
the default of the futures broker is directly attributable to the failure of his customer to meet the obligations under a futures contract; and
(b)
the failure to use the moneys, securities or property in a trust account might jeopardise the financial integrity of the Exchange or the clearing house.
(9) For the purposes of this section, “customer” means a person on behalf of whom the futures broker deals, or from whom the futures broker accepts instructions to deal, in futures contracts or leveraged foreign exchange trading, but does not include —
(a)
the futures broker itself with respect to dealings for the proprietary account of the futures broker;
(b)
a director, officer, employee or futures broker’s representative of the futures broker; or
(c)
a related corporation of the futures broker with respect to instructions accepted to deal for an account belonging to and wholly for the benefit of that related corporation.
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