Who qualifies for a Singapore stock loan?

How large must the position be?

Transactions are typically structured for positions valued from SGD 5 million upward, with no defined upper bound. The figure describes the market value of the shares you would borrow against; the amount advanced is a proportion of that value, set by the loan-to-value ratio.

Larger positions can be accommodated through staged structuring. Size alone does not set the advance: it is read from the counter's liquidity and volatility, and from how large your stake is against daily volume, so two positions of equal value can support very different terms. Our note on how LTV is set on an SGX counter explains why no single figure is published.

The position can be held personally or through a company. Typical borrowers include founders and controlling shareholders, family holding companies and family offices, and listed corporates with treasury or strategic equity. In each case, the owner of the shares must be able to grant security over them.

Which SGX shares qualify?

Shares listed on the SGX Mainboard, including Straits Times Index constituents, and selected Catalist counters can qualify, as can units in selected S-REITs and business trusts. Each counter is assessed case by case on free float, average daily traded value, market capitalisation, volatility, sector and shareholder concentration.

The board informs the structure rather than excluding the counter. A liquid Mainboard name with deep daily turnover supports a different advance from a thinly traded Catalist growth company, and the difference shows in the loan-to-value ratio and the margin mechanics, not in a blanket rule.

A recently listed counter has a shorter trading history to read, so it is assessed more conservatively. In every case the advance is read against how the shares actually trade, not the headline value of the stake, and units in S-REITs and business trusts are read on the same measures, with their distribution mechanics factored in.

What disqualifies a holding?

Four things can stop a holding from being financed: a moratorium that your counsel has not confirmed allows a charge, an existing charge that cannot be released, a counter that trades too thinly to be read as collateral, and customer due diligence that the lender cannot complete.

Under Mainboard Rule 227 on moratorium undertakings, promoters must give contractual undertakings to observe a moratorium on the transfer or disposal of all their interests in the issuer's securities. Promoters are controlling shareholders and their associates, and executive directors with an interest of 5% or more in the issued share capital, excluding subsidiary holdings, at listing.

Mainboard Rule 229 on the period of moratorium sets minimums. Promoters' entire shareholdings at listing are covered for at least 6 months after listing. Where the issuer was admitted on the market capitalisation test, or as a life science or mineral, oil and gas company, at least 50% of the original shareholdings stays covered for the next 6 months.

On Catalist, Catalist Rule 420 on moratorium undertakings requires the same undertaking, and Catalist Rule 422 on the period of moratorium covers a promoter's entire shareholdings for at least 6 months after listing and at least 50% for the next 6 months. Promoters of Catalist mineral, oil and gas companies are covered for at least 12 months, then at least 50% for 6 more.

Some pre-IPO investors are bound too. Investors who paid for their shares in the 12 months before the listing application on the Mainboard, or before listing on Catalist, have a proportion of their shares, set by a cash formula, covered for 6 months and 12 months after listing respectively. Investors connected to the firm that manages or sponsors the listing are generally covered for 6 months.

The moratorium rules speak of the transfer or disposal of interests and do not expressly mention pledging or charging. The undertaking is a contract, so its own wording matters, and the periods are minimums that a given undertaking can exceed. Whether a charge, or a lender's enforcement of one, is caught by a particular undertaking is a question for your Singapore counsel.

We arrange nothing that would cut across a moratorium. Our note on financing a locked-up or moratorium position explains what can be considered once counsel confirms what is permitted, and how holders plan for the step-down or expiry instead.

Where the shares are already pledged to another lender, that security is normally released or refinanced as part of the new facility, because the new lender takes security over an account opened with the designated custodian. Shares held in a securities account in your own name at The Central Depository (CDP), or through a broker or bank sub-account, can both support a facility.

The custody route is settled with your counsel and the counterparty before funding. Our note on CDP custody and share charges explains how the charge attaches to a direct account and to a sub-account.

Disclosure is a separate check. Our note on SGX Rule 728 and share pledge disclosure explains a rule about announcements, not about whether a pledge may be made: where a listed company's own borrowings contain a condition referring to a controlling shareholder's shareholding, or restricting a change in control, the company must obtain an undertaking from the controlling shareholder to notify it of share pledging arrangements, and announce them once notified.

The same note covers the other disclosure routes that can apply. Any disclosure or regulatory obligations are a matter for your own Singapore legal counsel, engaged in parallel; we act as arranger and introducer and do not provide legal or regulatory advice.

What documents will I need?

Expect to provide a passport or identity card, your residential address and details of your source of funds, plus constitutional and ownership documents if the shares sit in a company or trust. Exact lists vary by lender; for banks and capital markets intermediaries, MAS notices set the underlying checks.

MAS Notice 626 for banks and MAS Notice SFA04-N02 for capital markets intermediaries require the lender to identify you, verify your identity using reliable, independent source data, documents or information, and understand the purpose and intended nature of the relationship. For an individual, the minimum information is your full name, identification number, residential address, date of birth and nationality. A lender that cannot complete these measures must not commence or continue the relationship.

If the shares sit in a company or trust, the lender must also identify the individuals who ultimately own or control it and understand its ownership and control structure. MAS guidance for capital markets intermediaries gives examples of the information involved, including the certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles of association, share register, a board resolution authorising the account and, for a trust, the trust deed.

MAS guidance treats source of funds as the origin of the particular funds or assets in the relationship, and source of wealth as how your overall wealth was acquired. Enhanced due diligence includes establishing both by appropriate and reasonable means, and generally applies where you, or someone who ultimately owns or controls your holding vehicle, is a politically exposed person or a family member or close associate of one.

A lender may apply the same measures where it assesses a relationship as higher risk. MAS guidance gives examples of supporting evidence such as salary details, tax returns, bank statements, audited accounts of a company you own or control and, where wealth was inherited, a copy of the will. Treat these as typical practice: each lender sets its own list on a risk basis.

Standard KYC and source-of-funds documentation is completed at the documentation stage, alongside the facility agreement, share charge and custody agreements, which Singapore counsel of your choosing reviews.

The table brings the checks together with where each is explained on this site. It is general information only, not legal advice; how the checks apply to your holding is confirmed with your counsel and the lender.

Frequently asked questions

Published 30 October 2026