A collaborative report conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Ministry of Finance highlighted the casino sector's enormous...
Singapore fines banks $21.5M for money laundering gaps
Singapore’s financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has fined nine financial institutions a total of US$21.5 million (SG$27.45 million) over serious gaps in money laundering prevention.
MAS found that the institutions failed to properly review customers, verify sources of wealth, and flag suspicious transactions. Some missed red flags, like unusually large or inconsistent account activity. These gaps allowed criminals to move dirty money through Singapore’s financial system.
Six banks were fined:
- Credit Suisse (SG$5.8M),
- UOB (SG$5.6M),
- UBS (SG$3M),
- Citibank (SG$2.6M),
- Julius Baer (SG$2.4M),
- LGT Bank (SG$1M).
Three other financial firms were also penalized: UOB Kay Hian (SG$2.85M), Blue Ocean Invest (SG$2.4M), and Trident Trust (SG$1.8M).
MAS Deputy Managing Director Ho Hern Shin commented:
“The vigilance of our financial institutions and their employees is critical in mitigating such risks. MAS will work closely with financial institutions to promote more consistent implementation of AML/CFT measures. Where there are serious failings by financial institutions and their employees, MAS will not hesitate to take firm action.”
Individuals were not out of the MAS’ target. Blue Ocean’s CEO and COO received bans from working in finance for more than six years. Senior staff from Trident Trust and UOB were formally reprimanded. Nine others got private warnings.
MAS says banks must tighten anti-money laundering controls and meet international standards.
President of the European Parliament, the Hon. Roberta Metsola, was in Rome today to officially open SiGMA’s inaugural Central Europe event.
Before her speech, Metsola had...
