Ministerial statement: Alvin Tan on MAS’ role in fighting money laundering
One or more of the accused in a multi-billion-dollar money laundering case in Singapore may have been linked to single family offices (SFOs) that were awarded tax incentives here. Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Board Member Alvin Tan said this in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3). He said the SFOs in question had been subject to checks, such as showing proof that they had opened accounts with financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore and being screened by MAS itself. At the point of application, said Mr Tan, “no adverse information of note” on these entities had surfaced. MAS is reviewing its processes and had already announced plans to strengthen surveillance and defence against potential money laundering risks posed by SFOs. This could include ensuring that all SFOs, whether they apply for tax incentives or not, are subject to stringent anti-money laundering controls. Meanwhile, a digital platform allowing FIs to share information on suspicious customers is on track to be launched by the second half of next year. MAS is working on this with six major banks in Singapore. They will be allowed to share information from COSMIC with their local and overseas affiliates. However, due to the sensitivity of the information involved, there are currently no plans to extend COSMIC to entities beyond the financial sector or for data to be shared directly with FIs overseas or with international counterparts. Mr Tan said efforts to raise awareness, sharpen detection and tighten collaboration across the financial industry and Government have borne fruit, with the money laundering case under discussion being a prime example. He said FIs detected many illicit activities and filed numerous suspicious transaction reports on persons of interest before the case broke publicly. These helped law enforcement agencies identify and take action against those individuals. Tainted funds were also swiftly identified and seized - in some instances, very shortly before there were attempts to move them. Mr Tan said MAS is conducting detailed supervisory reviews and inspections of the FIs closely involved in this case and will “take a critical look” at how the suspects were able to access financial services in Singapore.
One or more of the accused in a multi-billion-dollar money laundering case in Singapore may have been linked to single family offices (SFOs) that were awarded tax incentives here. Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Board Member Alvin Tan said this in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3). He said the SFOs in question had been subject to checks, such as showing proof that they had opened accounts with financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore and being screened by MAS itself. At the point of application, said Mr Tan, “no adverse information of note” on these entities had surfaced. MAS is reviewing its processes and had already announced plans to strengthen surveillance and defence against potential money laundering risks posed by SFOs. This could include ensuring that all SFOs, whether they apply for tax incentives or not, are subject to stringent anti-money laundering controls. Meanwhile, a digital platform allowing FIs to share information on suspicious customers is on track to be launched by the second half of next year. MAS is working on this with six major banks in Singapore. They will be allowed to share information from COSMIC with their local and overseas affiliates. However, due to the sensitivity of the information involved, there are currently no plans to extend COSMIC to entities beyond the financial sector or for data to be shared directly with FIs overseas or with international counterparts. Mr Tan said efforts to raise awareness, sharpen detection and tighten collaboration across the financial industry and Government have borne fruit, with the money laundering case under discussion being a prime example. He said FIs detected many illicit activities and filed numerous suspicious transaction reports on persons of interest before the case broke publicly. These helped law enforcement agencies identify and take action against those individuals. Tainted funds were also swiftly identified and seized - in some instances, very shortly before there were attempts to move them. Mr Tan said MAS is conducting detailed supervisory reviews and inspections of the FIs closely involved in this case and will “take a critical look” at how the suspects were able to access financial services in Singapore.
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