Indranee Rajah on Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters (Estate Agents and Developers) Bill

Singapore is setting out requirements for the real estate sector to act on suspected money laundering activities. Currently, estate agents and salespersons are only required to conduct due diligence measures on their own clients. Under proposed changes, they will have to do so on unrepresented counter-parties as well. This is one measure to further align Singapore’s regulatory regime with global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah. In parliament on Tuesday (Apr 8), she also outlined steps to strengthen the existing penalty framework by prescribing maximum financial penalties on a "per contravention" instead of "per case" basis. Ms Indranee explained that the current "per case" framework does not provide sufficient deterrence, as the potential monetary benefits that estate agents and salespersons might obtain from facilitating illicit transactions could be significantly higher than the maximum financial penalties.