The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently launched two new departments to help the country identify and address lapses in anti-money laundering controls. According to news reports, one area of the new division will assume policy and supervision responsibilities at MAS while the other will focus on enforcement actions such as regulatory breaches, banking compliance, insurance and capital markets.
Prior to the launch of these new departments, MAS carried out enforcement activities through several areas within the authority. This unified and dedicated approach is expected to help Singapore crackdown on illicit activity and combat fraud across the region. When news broke last month about MAS’ preliminary findings in a probe related to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which revealed inconsistencies and weakness in anti-money laundering compliance in some major Singapore-based banks, it pushed the government to ramp up its AML efforts.
“1MDB-related fund flows have revealed a complex international web of transactions involving multiple entities and individuals operating in several jurisdictions”, MAS said in a statement. “Certain [financial institutions] in Singapore were among those used as conduits for these transactions.”
MAS added that examinations—which were initiated in March 2015 in the following banks, BSI Bank, DBS Bank, Standard Chartered Bank’s Singapore branch, UBS’ Singapore branch, Falcon Private Bank’s local branch and Raffles Money Change—found lapses and weaknesses in anti-money laundering (AML) compliance in these Singapore-based financial institutions.
This is one of the many hotly-debated topics that will be discussed at Ethisphere’s 4th Annual Asia Ethics Summit at the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore. The panel “Sounding the AML Alarm: Concerns for the Financial Sector and Beyond” will include the general counsel, compliance officers and other members of the C-Suite from leading companies who will provide their views on the AML compliance landscape, the compliance team structure, and how their roles have evolved to adapt to increased standards.
Moreover, this program will focus on how some top-performing companies are elevating global performance through company culture and leading practices. Topics on the agenda include, risk management, data and privacy, global board engagement, anti-money laundering compliance and much more.
