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Almost 615,000 S'poreans can sell Singtel special discounted shares for cash, shares to be moved from CPF Board to CDP account
For SDS holders wishing to keep their shares, no action is required.
April 07, 2026, 06:46 PM
From Apr. 8, Singtel's special discounted shares (SDS) can be sold for cash instead of being transferred to Central Provident Fund (CPF) ordinary accounts (OA).
Almost 615,000 Singaporeans who own such shares will be eligible.
On Apr. 7, Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash tabled the CPF (Amendment) Bill.
This allows the direct transfer of shares from the CPF Board to the shareholder's individual Central Depository (CDP) account, which is operated by the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
A joint press release from Singtel and CPF Board on Apr. 7 detailed the exercise to transfer the Singtel SDS to give holders direct control, and these Singtel SDS are worth approximately S$6,800 as of Apr. 1, 2026.
How it affects SDS holders,
The transfer of shares is subject to the passing of the CPF (Amendment) Bill, and stakeholders are planning for the transfer to be facilitated on Nov. 21, 2026, according to the press release:
"After the transfer, CPF Board will no longer be the trustee and Singtel SDS will be held in SDS holders’ CDP accounts under their own names."
For SDS holders wishing to keep their shares, no action is required.
On Nov. 21, the shares will automatically be transferred to their CDP accounts, and those without an account will have a designated CDP account created in their name:
"SDS holders who own other Singtel ordinary shares will have both sets of shares consolidated in the same CDP account for ease of management."
For SDS holders wishing to sell their shares, they can withdraw the sale proceeds in cash or retain them in their CPF OA.
SDS can be sold through Philip Securities’ website, in person at SingPost branches, or select SGX Retail Brokers.
Those who wish to receive sales proceeds in cash will receive payment to their registered bank account within 14 business days from the sale instruction date.
Special discounted shares
Singtel became a publicly listed company in October 1993.
Its initial public offering (IPO) on Nov. 1, 1993, represented 11 per cent of its shares.
According to the press release, Singtel SDS is a legacy scheme introduced in 1993 as part of the "government’s efforts to give Singaporeans a stake in Singapore’s economic success through share-ownership".
Unlike Singtel's ordinary shares, SDS are held in the CDP accounts with the CPF Board acting as a trustee.
CPF Board said its members were offered the option to buy discounted Singtel shares using their CPF savings in two exercises conducted in 1993 and 1996:
"CPF Board was appointed as trustee to facilitate Singaporeans’ share purchase as many were unfamiliar with owning shares."
The youngest SDS holder today is now above 50 years old, according to the press release.
Median SDS holder receives around S$5,000 in cumulative dividends
The median SDS holder has approximately 1,360 Singtel SDS.
This includes shares purchased in the two exercises at a total cost of S$2,000 and "additional loyalty shares equivalent to 40 per cent of their original shareholdings".
Singtel and CPF Board said: "The median SDS holder today would have also received around S$5,000 in cumulative dividends.
"These dividends alone would have more than covered both the CPF savings used to purchase the Singtel SDS, and the CPF interest SDS holders would otherwise have received in their CPF Ordinary Account (OA)".
The press release added: "Of the almost 615,000 SDS holders, close to three in five have individual CDP accounts and around one in four also own other Singtel ordinary shares."
What is the median?
The median is the middle value in a numbered list, ranked from smallest to largest. It has an equal number of values above and below.
If there are an even number of values in the list, the middle pair must be added together and divided by two to find the median.
The median is sometimes used if a list of numbers contains outliers that would skew the data, if you used the mean instead.
For example, let's say you have a group of five friends.
Adam earns S$2,000 a month, Brenda earns S$3,000, Cynthia earns S$4,000, Devon also earns S$4,000, and Ethan earns S$1.2 million.
If you calculated the mean, you would conclude that the average monthly income earned among the five friends is S$242,600.
However, the median number of S$4,000 would give a more accurate picture.
CPF Board & Singtel will notify SDS holders
According to the joint news release, all SDS holders will receive a hardcopy notification letter by the end of April 2026.
CPF Board and Singtel will also partner with the Agency for Integrated Care to reach out to over 20,000 older and more vulnerable SDS holders who may not be as digitally savvy.
For more details, SDS holders may visit the official website or call 1713.
CPF Board members are advised to remain vigilant against scams.
Members should verify the website URL and ensure it is from the official website before performing any transactions.
Top photo from Mokkie Mok/Google Maps & Singtel Shop/Google Maps
