In Singapore, the terms stock broker, dealer, remisier, trading representative all mean 'generally' the same thing. They are the people who you call when you want to make a trade or when you have problems during your transactions with that brokerage firm.

Back in the 1970s to 1990s, being a remisier is a very lucurative business. Commissions was around 1% of the trades done, and a remisiers cut could be around 40-50% of that commission. However, the advent of internet trading has resulted in commissions going as low at 0.275%. Even with a 40% cut of that, you would still need a substantial amount of trading volume going through you to make a decent amount of money.

So why be a remisier?

For one, it still is a fairly lucurative business. It is a business, because the brokerage firm does not pay you any salary. What you earn is the commissions cut from your client's trade. This also means you can subtract off any business expense  you have in running this business. Assuming you are able to generate $250,000 of commissions annually for the brokerage firm, your cut of that would be $100,000.

For another, by being a remisier, you get special privileges such as larger margins and leverage, as well as a much lower commission percentage. (Which is very very useful if you intend to be a high volume trader)

So how do you become a remisier?

In the eyes of the MAS and SGX, anybody who deals with clients in this way are known as a trading representative. In order to obtain the trading representative licence, you would need to pass 2 exams, namely the CMFAS Module 1A, as well as the CMFAS Module 6. More information on those can be found on the Singapore Institute of Banking and Finance website. Once you have obtained these 2 exam certification, you have to look for a brokerage firm to sponsor your application, wait for MAS to approve your trading representative licence (which would take 2-4 months), and you are all set!

PS: If you require study notes for Module 1A and Module 6, drop a contact!

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