The CEA Code of Ethics, in full the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care, sets the standard of conduct for every property agent in Singapore. It sits under the Estate Agents Act 2010, alongside regulations that ban acting for both sides, handling client money and referring clients to moneylenders. Breaches can end in a financial penalty, suspension, or a court fine and jail.
This is a plain-language map of the rules as published by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) in November 2026. It is not legal advice, and the legislation itself is the authority.
How the Rules Fit Together
- The Estate Agents Act 2010 creates the licensing of agencies and registration of salespersons, and sets out offences.
- Regulations under the Act cover estate agency work, licensing and registration, and anti-money-laundering duties. The two codes of conduct are prescribed in the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations 2010.
- Practice guidelines and circulars from CEA explain how to apply the rules in specific situations, such as advertising.
CEA publishes the current versions on its legislation page. The Act was amended with effect from 1 July 2025 to strengthen penalties and anti-money-laundering requirements.
What the CEA Code of Ethics Covers
CEA lists twelve areas in the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care:
- Knowing and complying with the law, practice circulars and guidelines
- Due diligence and compliance with statutory requirements
- A general duty to clients and the public
- Not bringing discredit or disrepute to the industry
- Duties to clients when documents are signed
- Obligations in respect of agreements
- Conveying offers and counter-offers
- Interpretation or translation where necessary
- Duties in respect of advertisements
- Avoiding conflicts of interest
- Recommending professional advice where appropriate
- Safeguarding confidential information
In daily work this means: explain every document and give the client time to read it; pass on every offer; declare any conflict of interest or referral fee; and send clients to a lawyer, banker or the relevant agency when a question is beyond your role.
A separate Code of Practice applies to agencies and covers supervision, the estate agent card, complaints and record keeping.
Three Hard Lines
No dual representation
CEA is direct on this: an agent may act for only one party, and cannot represent and collect commission from both buyer and seller, or both landlord and tenant. Doing so is an offence.
You may help the other party with paperwork only if your own client consents and you make clear that you are not acting for, or collecting any fee from, that party. If you collect commission from your own client, you cannot also collect a commission or co-broking fee from the other party or that party’s agent.
No handling of transaction money
CEA says it is an offence for agents to handle transaction monies. For a sale or purchase these include option fees, option exercise fees, downpayments, stamp duties, deposits, sale proceeds and legal fees. For HDB rentals, they include the rental deposit and the monthly rent.
Clients pay the payee directly by a verifiable method. Valuation fees and your commission are generally not transaction monies, and commission is paid to the agency. CEA allows an agent to pay lease stamp duty first and be reimbursed, but not to collect it before stamping. CEA has publicised a case of a salesperson fined $14,500 for handling transaction monies.
The simplest habit is never to let client money pass through your hands or your bank account.
No moneylender referrals
Agents must not introduce, refer or recommend a moneylender to a client. A person who holds a moneylender’s licence, or works for a licensed moneylender, cannot be registered as a salesperson at all.
Agreements and Advertising
Agreements. CEA prescribes estate agency agreement forms for residential sales, purchases and leases. An exclusive agreement runs for up to three months. Extra terms may be added but cannot conflict with the prescribed ones. Go through each clause with the client, especially commission, which CEA says is not fixed.
Advertising. CEA’s Practice Guidelines on Ethical Advertising apply to flyers, banners, portals, messages and social media. The main points:
- Get the owner’s prior consent, from all owners, in writing or another verifiable form.
- Show your name and registration number, your agency’s name and licence number, and your CEA-registered contact number.
- Nothing inaccurate, false or misleading. Photographs must be of the actual property and must not be altered in a way that misrepresents it.
- If you quote returns, yields or capital gains, state the basis, the source and the period of any past data.
- Your agency is required to vet advertisements before publication.
Anti-Money-Laundering Duties
Property is a recognised money-laundering risk, and the duties fall on individual agents as well as agencies.
- Customer due diligence. Verify the identity of the client and any beneficial owner, and assess risk factors such as the nature and purpose of the transaction. This must be done before the client enters any agreement to buy, sell or lease.
- Unrepresented counterparties. If the other side has no agent, you carry out due diligence on them too, except in wholly residential HDB rentals.
- Screening. Check clients against the sanctions and high-risk lists CEA specifies, and keep evidence that you did.
- Higher-risk cases. Establish the source of wealth or funds, and apply enhanced checks to transactions linked to high-risk countries.
- Suspicious transaction reports. Report suspicion through your agency. CEA says agents need only file, not investigate. Failing to report where there are reasonable grounds to suspect criminal activity is an offence.
Submit all due diligence records to your agency. Agencies must keep their records for at least five years.
Penalties
| Route | Used for | Maximum for a salesperson |
|---|---|---|
| Letter of censure | Less serious disciplinary breaches | Financial penalty up to S$5,000 per case |
| Disciplinary Committee | Serious disciplinary breaches | Up to $100,000 per case, or per breach for anti-money-laundering breaches from 1 July 2025; suspension or revocation of registration |
| Court: acting as a salesperson without registration | Offence under the Act | Fine up to $25,000, up to 12 months’ jail, or both |
| Court: false statement in a registration application | Offence under the Act | Fine up to $50,000, up to 3 years’ jail, or both |
Dual representation, handling transaction money and moneylender referrals are prohibited by the Estate Agency Work Regulations. For the penalty on each, check the regulations on CEA’s legislation page.
Disciplinary records appear on CEA’s Public Register, where any client can see them.
The short version: Act for one side only. Never touch client money. Never refer a moneylender. Advertise only with consent and only what is true. Do the due diligence before any agreement is signed. When unsure, ask your agency’s Key Executive Officer before you act, not after.
What To Do Next
- Read the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care in full in the Estate Agency Work Regulations on CEA’s legislation page.
- Save CEA’s prescribed agreements, checklists and Customer’s Particulars Form where you can reach them at a client’s home.
- Ask your agency how to submit due diligence records and who vets advertisements.
- Learn the buyer-facing rules in the property rules every new agent must know, and see how to choose an agency that will supervise you properly. The property agent career guide links the whole series.
