A two-year position, structured like the product itself: pay the premium up front — licenses, models, screen time, a paper track record — and the payoff turns convex once you cross the strike into live risk. Secondary leg: build a generalist base across commodities, equities and bonds so the trader you become isn't a one-product trader.
Singapore restructured the CMFAS framework on 1 Apr 2024 — the old M1B/M2A/M6/M6A papers were replaced by role-based RES (Rules, Ethics & Skills) modules plus product papers CM-EIP / CM-SIP, administered by IBF. Listed options and futures are Specified Investment Products, so CM-SIP is the paper that matters.
Capital Markets — Specified Investment Products (successor to M6/M6A). Covers derivatives, structured products, futures and listed options — the core product paper for a derivatives dealer.
Target: pass by M5 · Z26The role-based Rules, Ethics & Skills paper for dealing in capital markets products — compliance confirms which RES paper matches the desk (exchange conduct rules for SGX-DT execution are folded in here).
Target: pass by M6 · F27Minimum academic qualifications, fit-and-proper declaration, and the MAS appointed-representative notification are filed by the firm once exams clear. US markets (FINRA licenses) only matter if seconded to a US broker-dealer — park it.
Firm files after examsThe single best credential for the commodities / equities / bonds ambition — one curriculum covering all of them plus derivatives and portfolio theory. L1 in Aug 2027 (M13), L2 in May 2028 (M22).
L1: M13 · L2: M22Bloomberg Market Concepts — ~10 hours, done on the terminal. Cheap signal of cross-asset literacy and forces terminal fluency early.
Done in M1 · Q26Risk-centric alternative if CFA feels too broad. Strong on VaR, greeks and derivatives risk. Pick CFA or FRM — doing both in two years dilutes the trading hours that actually earn the seat.
Only if CFA droppedFour books to build. The first three make an options trader; the fourth — the secondary role — makes a generalist. Squares are the primary track, circles the cross-asset track.
Each month is a contract with futures month codes (F=Jan … Z=Dec) and deliverables that must settle before expiry. Tick them off — progress is saved in this browser. LICENSE marks exam months, CROSS-ASSET marks the secondary-role months.
Foundations: know the desk, price options from scratch, clear the license gate, start the journal that everything later is judged by.
Strategy depth, honest backtesting, the first two cross-asset months — ending with the pitch for live limits, backed by six months of journal.
First live risk under tiny limits. Every trade attributed, every loss post-mortemed. Bonds month completes the cross-asset base.
Scale what works, automate the routine, write the risk manual, and make the formal case for the trader seat.