SINGAPORE - Registered business trusts will soon have to adopt a new financial reporting framework that previously applied only to listed companies, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Thursday (Jan 19).

The move comes in the wake of changes announced in 2014, when the Accounting Standards Council (ASC) said Singapore-incorporated companies listed on the Singapore Exchange must apply a new Singapore financial reporting framework for annual periods beginning on or after Jan 1, 2018.

The ASC's decision, however, does not cover financial statements of registered business trusts and authorised collective investment schemes, including real estate investment trusts, which come under the MAS' purview.

Taking into account feedback from the industry and having considered practices in comparable jurisdictions, MAS said on Thursday it has decided that business trusts should prepare financial statements in accordance with the new framework, also from Jan 1, 2018 onwards.

However authorised collective investment schemes will not have to adopt the new framework.