Singapore CMFAS insurance exam guide

Papers · paths · registration · the examinations · after you pass

1. Which papers do you need?

The CMFAS framework is modular: each paper covers one body of rules or one product family, and the set you sit depends on what you will be licensed to do. For the insurance family there are two paths and one shared paper.

• Life insurance and financial advisory. Representatives of life insurers and licensed financial advisers who will advise on life policies sit RES5, CM-LIP and HI. Investment-linked policies are covered inside CM-LIP.
• General insurance. Agents who will arrange motor, home, travel, property or liability cover sit BCP, PGI and ComGI. Where the role also involves financial advisory services, RES5 is required as well.
• Both. Someone who will handle both families sits all six.

Your principal — the insurer, broker or financial adviser that will appoint you — confirms the exact set for your role, and the SCI lists the modules each licence class requires. Some candidates hold exemptions from earlier qualifications; the SCI and MAS publish the exemption rules.

2. The 2023 restructuring: RES5, CM-LIP and the old module codes

In October 2023 MAS restructured the CMFAS framework. For the insurance family that meant new module codes and new syllabuses: the rules module became RES5, and the former life and investment-linked modules were combined into CM-LIP. Older material that still refers to Module 5, Module 9 or Module 9A describes the previous structure. The papers you sit today are the ones in the table above, and the SCI study guide for each is the syllabus.

3. Registering with the Singapore College of Insurance

Enrolment is through an SCI account. Each module is booked individually, with its own fee and its own examination slot, and the study guide for that module becomes available for download once you are enrolled. Fees, available dates and any identity or eligibility requirements are set by the SCI and published on its website; they can change, so check the current details before booking.

4. What each paper tests

RES5 — Rules, Ethics and Skills for Financial Advisory Services

The regulatory paper. It rests on the Financial Advisers Act 2001 and the MAS Notices and Guidelines under it — the licensing and representative-notification regime, conduct of business and disclosure, ethics and professional standards, customer due diligence and anti-money-laundering (Notice FAA-N06), the requirements for recommendations and product disclosure (Notice FAA-N16), the Policy Owners' Protection Scheme, and dispute resolution through FIDReC.

CM-LIP — Life Insurance and Investment-Linked Policies

The life product paper. Term, whole life, endowment and annuity products, participating and non-participating policies, investment-linked policies and their charges and unit pricing, the LIA codes and guidelines, CPF-related schemes, claims, and the MAS Notices governing disclosure and product recommendation.

HI — Health Insurance

MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans, MediSave and CareShield Life, disability income and long-term care products, critical illness cover, health insurance underwriting and claims, and the conduct rules specific to health products.

BCP — Basic Insurance Concepts and Principles

Risk and the function of insurance, insurable interest, utmost good faith, indemnity, subrogation and contribution, proximate cause, the structure of the Singapore insurance market, the Insurance Act 1966 and the supervisory framework, and the role of intermediaries.

PGI — Personal General Insurance

Personal lines: motor, home contents and fire, personal accident, travel, domestic-helper and related covers — scope, exclusions, underwriting, claims and the consumer-facing conduct rules.

ComGI — Commercial General Insurance

Commercial lines: property, business interruption, public and product liability, marine cargo and hull, work injury compensation, engineering and other commercial covers — scope, rating, underwriting and claims.

5. The examinations

Each module is a multiple-choice, computer-based examination taken at the SCI. Question counts and pass marks differ by paper (see the table above); duration is set per module by the SCI. Results are released after the sitting. A module that is not passed can be re-sat, with each attempt booked and paid for separately, so a structured study plan per paper is worth more than a single broad revision.

6. After you pass

• Appointment. Your principal appoints you as a representative and notifies MAS. Until that notification is lodged you cannot act as a representative, whatever papers you hold.
• Continuing professional development. Representatives are subject to ongoing CPD requirements set by MAS and the industry associations; the examinations are the entry requirement, not the end of the obligation.
• Adding a family later. A life representative who later needs general insurance sits the general insurance papers at that point, and vice versa. A general insurance agent moving into financial advisory adds RES5 at that point.

7. Costs

• Examination fee: set per module by the SCI — a full path is several modules, each paid separately
• Study guide: included with enrolment for that module
• Retakes: a further examination fee per attempt

Fees and schedules are subject to announcements from the Singapore College of Insurance and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.