Foo Mee Har on Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill

As a prominent global financial centre with substantial flows of capital, Singapore faces inherent risks relating to money laundering. It is imperative that Singapore’s anti-money laundering regime remains dynamic and consistently ahead of the evolving tactics of criminals, said MP Foo Mee Har. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Aug 6), she noted that the Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill will empower Government agencies to share tax and trade data with the relevant authorities. Data sharing across Government agencies is a significant step forward to seeing the full picture of illicit activities, she said. However, with the influx of additional data from various agencies, the capability to analyse and make sense of the information must be correspondingly elevated, she added. She wanted to know how this large volume of data would be handled. She stressed the need for data capabilities and resources to keep pace with the increased data flow to act swiftly and decisively. Turning to the toolkit for law enforcement agencies to deal with criminal assets, she said by streamlining these procedures, they can act swiftly to order the sale of overseas properties. Once the assets are seized, the Government must have processes in place to ensure competitive prices, said Ms Foo. She wanted to know if the current procedures are robust enough to manage complex and high-value assets. Ms Foo also stressed the need to ensure that the new measures do not jeopardise Singapore's reputation as a competitive global business and financial hub. She urged the authorities to work closely with industry to ensure that the implementation of the new measures is well-guided and well-understood, as well as carefully balanced between vigilance and openness.