Following the probe on one of Singapore’s biggest money laundering cases involving more than USD 2.8 billion in assets, the Government of Singapore will establish an inter-ministerial committee to review Singapore’s financial system and strengthen its anti-money laundering regime. The committee will be chaired by Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah and it will consist of senior officers from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Law (MinLaw), Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).
The Committee will review the existing legal framework over financial crimes in four key areas: how to prevent money launderers from abusing corporate structures, the role of financial institutions in controlling and flagging illicit transactions, how other non-financial stakeholders can help manage money laundering risks, and how to strengthen the Government’s capabilities in detecting suspicious activities.
In addition to the inter-ministerial committee, Singapore will also tighten its internal incentive administration processes for single-family offices (SFO), considering that the case may be linked to family offices given tax incentives in Singapore. Moreover, to help financial institutions better control emerging risks, MAS has been developing COSMIC, a platform that will allow financial institutions to share suspicious customer profiles. Additional measures on enhancing penalties are also being planned and will be tabled in Parliament in early 2024.
Despite timely actions from Singapore’s government, this scandal took a toll on the city-state’s reputation as a reliable and low-crime financial hub in Southeast Asia, especially after a string of high-profile political scandals in recent months.
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