Specifications
The return catalogue
Status: Baseline proposed. Legal names, due dates, penalties, and applicability require
supervisor confirmation.
Version: 0.1
Date: 2026-08-11
Thirty returns form the baseline catalogue. Each is built as a configurable template in
Return Studio with form fields, formulas, uploads, certification,
and a review checklist. None of them is code.
A specification page is the contract for one return: its fields, its rules with citations, its
lifecycle, and its reviewer checklist. It is the document a supervisor signs off and the document
the template is configured from. See how to write one.
Spec status
| Marker |
Meaning |
| ✅ |
Specified — fields, rules, and checklist written and prototyped |
| 🟡 |
Drafted — structure known, detail outstanding |
| ⬜ |
Catalogued only — awaiting a design workshop |
Catalogue
Prudential and financial
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R01 |
Prudential Financial Return |
Quarterly / as directed |
All securities market intermediaries where applicable |
✅ |
| R02 |
Capital Adequacy Computation Return |
Quarterly, annually audited |
Applicable SMIs |
✅ |
| R03 |
Annual Audited Financial Statements |
Annual |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R04 |
Management Accounts Return |
Monthly or quarterly |
High-risk or selected firms |
⬜ |
Client assets and custody
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R05 |
Client Money and Client Asset Reconciliation |
Monthly |
Dealers, custodians, managers as applicable |
⬜ |
| R06 |
Custody Holdings Return |
Monthly / quarterly |
Custodians, trustees, relevant market infrastructure |
⬜ |
AML/CFT/CPF
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R07 |
AML/CFT/CPF Quarterly Return |
Quarterly |
All reporting institutions under supervisor purview |
⬜ |
| R08 |
Suspicious Transaction / Activity Report Log |
Event driven, periodic summary |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R09 |
Currency / Large Transaction Report Summary |
Periodic / event driven |
Relevant firms |
⬜ |
| R10 |
Beneficial Ownership and PEP Exposure Return |
Quarterly / event driven |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
Governance and risk
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R11 |
Corporate Governance Return |
Quarterly / annual |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R12 |
Compliance Officer and Key Person Return |
Event driven, annual confirmation |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R13 |
Risk Management Return |
Quarterly / annual |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R14 |
Internal and External Audit Findings Return |
Quarterly / annual |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
Operational resilience
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R15 |
Operational Risk and Incident Return |
Event driven, monthly summary |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R16 |
Outsourcing and Third Party Service Provider Return |
Annual / event driven |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R17 |
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Test Return |
Annual / event driven |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
Market conduct and trading
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R18 |
Market Conduct and Complaints Return |
Monthly / quarterly |
All client-facing licensees |
⬜ |
| R19 |
Broker Dealer Trading Activity Return |
Daily / monthly |
Dealers and brokers |
⬜ |
| R20 |
Settlement Failure and Exposure Return |
Daily / event driven |
Dealers, exchanges, CSD participants |
⬜ |
Investment management and collective schemes
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R21 |
Investment Manager AUM and Portfolio Return |
Monthly / quarterly |
Investment managers |
⬜ |
| R22 |
Collective Investment Scheme NAV Return |
Daily / monthly |
CIS managers and trustees |
⬜ |
| R23 |
CIS Portfolio Composition Return |
Monthly / quarterly |
CIS managers |
⬜ |
| R24 |
Trustee / Custodian Oversight Return |
Quarterly |
Trustees and custodians |
⬜ |
Market infrastructure
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R25 |
Exchange Market Operations Return |
Daily / monthly |
Securities exchanges and ATPs |
⬜ |
| R26 |
CSD / Registry Operations Return |
Daily / monthly |
CSDs, transfer secretaries |
⬜ |
| R27 |
Listing and Issuer Compliance Return |
Periodic |
Exchanges or relevant departments |
⬜ |
Disclosure and licensing
| Code |
Return |
Frequency |
Applies to |
Spec |
| R28 |
Environmental, Social and Climate Risk Return |
Annual / as directed |
Applicable firms |
⬜ |
| R29 |
Change Notification Return |
Event driven |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
| R30 |
Licence Renewal and Annual Declaration |
Annual |
All licensed firms |
⬜ |
Reading thirty returns together surfaces requirements no single return would:
Three obligation shapes, not one. R01 is periodic with a due date. R08 and R29 are event
driven with no period at all. R19 and R22 are daily, which at market scale is a different volume
problem entirely. Cadence needs at least two obligation kinds, and the
daily returns may need a submission path that is closer to a feed than a form.
Returns read from Registry, and one writes to it. R10, R11, and R12 report on directors,
officers, and beneficial owners that Registry already holds — so the
template should pre-populate from master data and ask the firm to confirm or correct. R29 is the
inverse: an approved change notification mutates master data. That is the only write of its kind
in the platform and needs deliberate design.
Cross-return consistency is pervasive, not exceptional. R02 must reconcile with R01. R05 must
reconcile with R06. R22 NAV must reconcile with R23 holdings. Deferred cross-return validation is
therefore a core capability, not an edge case — see the open question in
Assay.
Attachments carry real weight. R03 is essentially a document return with a thin data wrapper.
The platform cannot treat attachments as an afterthought when an audited financial statement is
the submission.
Working order
Specs are written in the order the roadmap needs them, not in numeric
order. R01 and R02 come first because they exercise the hardest machinery — derived figures,
prudential thresholds, prior-period variance, and cross-return consistency — and anything that
survives them will survive a governance questionnaire.