The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a consultation to gather feedback on proposed updates to corporate governance regulations for banks, insurers, and designated financial holding companies. The initiative, announced on 29 September, aims to enhance existing frameworks by addressing evolving risks and practices whilst ensuring that requirements remain proportionate to the impact on customers and the financial system.
The proposed updates focus on four key areas. Firstly, MAS plans to refine the criteria for director independence, ensuring directors are free from management, business relationships, and substantial shareholders. This is intended to support objective judgement and effective oversight. Secondly, the authority suggests increasing the minimum board size and requiring a majority of independent directors for systemically important banks and insurers, as well as full banks, to ensure diverse perspectives and expertise.
Additionally, MAS proposes requiring prior approval for key appointments, such as the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee and Chief Information Officer, reflecting the growing importance of succession planning and technology risk management. Lastly, the consultation suggests streamlining requirements for financial institutions with lower systemic importance by removing the need for prior approval of certain appointments.
These updates are part of MAS’s ongoing efforts to maintain robust corporate governance standards whilst adapting to the changing landscape of the financial sector. Interested parties are invited to submit their comments on the proposals by 9 December 2026.
