Alerts and Updates for CMFAS M5 Financial Advisory Services Exam (Singapore)

RES5, formerly CMFAS M5, at a glance

Part I covers the Financial Advisers Act regulatory framework, MAS Notices, Guidelines and market conduct. Part II covers professional ethics, client relationships, financial planning and fair dealing. SCI issues a Result Slip rather than a certificate, awards three CPD hours on a pass, and places no limit on the number of times a candidate may sit.

Dates and windows

There is no examination calendar to track for this paper. Slots run daily on weekdays and are booked on demand through the SCI portal, so the only live dates are the regime and fee changes above. The eBook version date is reported by a commercial prep site, not by SCI, and should be confirmed against the Version Control Record in the eBook itself.

What this means for your preparation

Two things go wrong with this paper. The first is searching for M5 and booking nothing, because the module was renamed RES5 in April 2024 and only the new name appears on the SCI portal. The second is preparing for a single pass mark. RES5 has two separate thresholds in one sitting, 75 per cent on Part I and 80 per cent on Part II, and a strong overall score does not rescue a weak Part II.

Part II is the harder half despite being smaller

Part I is 110 questions needing 75 per cent, so roughly 83 correct. Part II is 40 questions needing 80 per cent, so 32 correct, meaning only eight wrong answers are affordable across the whole ethics and skills section. That section covers professional ethics, client relationships, financial planning and fair dealing, material that reads as common sense and is therefore under-prepared. Candidates who allocate study time in proportion to question count give Part II about a quarter of their effort and then fail on it. Reverse the intuition: the smaller part deserves closer to half the revision, and every fair dealing and conflict of interest scenario should be worked through until the reasoning is reflexive rather than plausible.

RES5 alone does not license anything

RES5 is the rules, ethics and skills paper. On its own it does not qualify a representative to advise on any product. SCI's own description pairs it with the relevant product knowledge paper, and for collective investment schemes that partner paper is CM-CIS. A candidate whose regulated activity is advising on units in a collective investment scheme needs both. Because the combined product modules were introduced at the same time as the RES renaming, the safest sequence is to confirm with the firm's compliance department exactly which papers the intended appointment requires under MAS Notice FAA-N26 before paying for anything, rather than working backwards from a list found online.

Fee structure removes the excuse to rush

Since 1 April 2024 SCI charges the same fee for a first attempt and any subsequent attempt, at 185.30 Singapore dollars for a member weekday day session or 203.83 dollars for a night or weekend slot, inclusive of registration and GST. That removes the old financial penalty for re-sitting, and SCI states there is no limit on the number of times a candidate may sit. It also means there is no saving in booking early and hoping. Since evening and weekend slots cost about 18 dollars more than weekday daytime ones, a candidate with flexible hours who books daytime sittings pays less for the same paper.

Watch the eBook version, not the syllabus year

Hard copy study texts have been discontinued. SCI issues an eBook after payment and folds amendments into it, with changes logged in a Version Control Record at the back of the text. Because the paper is heavily regulatory, an out-of-date copy is a genuine risk: MAS Notices and Guidelines shift, and a question keyed to a revised Notice will not match an older edition. Before starting revision, open the Version Control Record and check which exam dates the version applies from. A prep site reports version 1.3 as applying from 22 September 2026, but that is a commercial source and the eBook itself is the authority.

Book, sit and collect only a result slip

Sittings run daily on weekdays as a Computer Screen Examination in English, closed book, booked on demand through the SCI portal. There is no certificate: SCI issues a Result Slip only, and a pass carries three CPD hours. Keep the result slip, because it is the evidence the firm's compliance function will need when lodging the representative's appointment. SCI's RES5 page does not state an expiry period for a pass, and the governing requirement sits in MAS Notice FAA-N26 rather than on the exam page, so a candidate who passes long before taking up an appointment should confirm the position with compliance rather than assume the pass keeps indefinitely.

Common questions

Does CMFAS M5 still exist?

No. SCI renamed M5 as RES5, Rules, Ethics and Skills for Financial Advisory Services, with effect from 1 April 2024 under the revised MAS Notice FAA-N26 regime. The last day to sit the old M5 paper was 28 March 2024 and the deadline to register for old modules was 25 March 2024. Anyone searching the SCI portal for M5 will not find it; the paper to book is RES5, and the syllabus now includes ethics and skills content that M5 did not carry.

What is the pass mark for RES5?

Two thresholds must be met in the same sitting: at least 75 per cent on Part I and at least 80 per cent on Part II. Part I has 110 questions on the regulatory framework, so about 83 correct answers are needed. Part II has 40 questions on ethics and skills, so 32 correct answers are needed and only eight may be wrong. A high Part I score does not compensate for falling short on Part II; both conditions apply independently.

How much does RES5 cost?

Under the fee standardisation effective 1 April 2024 an SCI or IBF member pays 185.30 Singapore dollars for a weekday day session and 203.83 dollars for a night or weekend session, both inclusive of the registration fee and GST. Non-member rates are higher. SCI removed the distinction between first attempt and subsequent attempt fees at the same time. The revised fees SCI published on 1 August 2026 list the BCP, PGI, ComGI and HI modules and do not cover the capital markets papers.

Who needs to take RES5?

SCI states that RES5 is for those who intend to advise on securities, units in a collective investment scheme or exchange-traded derivatives contracts, and for those who provide advice on or arrange life insurance policies. It is a rules and ethics paper and is normally taken together with a product knowledge paper appropriate to the regulated activity, such as CM-CIS for collective investment schemes. Candidates should confirm the exact combination with their firm's compliance department against MAS Notice FAA-N26.

When can I sit RES5 and how do I book?

The examination is conducted daily on weekdays, so there is no fixed calendar to wait for. Booking is on demand through the SCI exam registration portal, where RES5 is listed among the regulatory examinations and added to a cart. It is delivered as a Computer Screen Examination in English and is closed book. Study material is issued as an eBook after payment; hard copy study texts are no longer produced. SCI places no limit on the number of times a candidate may sit.

How many times can I retake RES5 and is there a certificate?

SCI states that there is no limit to the number of times a candidate can sit for an examination, and since 1 April 2024 the fee is the same for a first and any subsequent attempt, so a re-sit costs the same as the original booking. On passing, SCI issues a Result Slip only and does not issue a certificate, and the pass carries three CPD hours. The result slip is the document a firm's compliance function will rely on when lodging a representative's appointment.