Anti-Money Laundering (2024)

Singapore supports global efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. Maintaining a clean and trusted financial centre is important given our role as an international business hub. Find out more about MAS' regime to combat financial crime.

Overview

Combating money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing are priorities for MAS. We require our financial institutions to have sufficiently robust controls to detect and deter such illicit activities. We also partner the industry to bolster their defences, by engaging them on emerging risks, evolving criminal typologies and industry best practices. MAS is firmly committed to safeguarding Singapore as a clean and trusted financial centre.

Sustained effort and unstinting vigilance will be needed on the part of industry players to manage the risk of illicit finance and keep our financial centre clean.

- Ravi Menon, former Managing Director, MAS
MAS Annual Report 2016/2017

COllaborative Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases (COSMIC), a digital platform where financial institutions (FIs) collaborate to detect criminal activities.

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Our Role in International Standard Setting

Singapore is an active member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard setting and oversight body for AML/CFT. As co-chair of its Policy Development Group, Singapore collaborates closely with fellow AML/CFT policy makers and supervisors to develop international standards. We are also a founding member of the Asia / Pacific Group on Money Laundering.

Regulations and Guidance

The controls that MAS requires of financial institutions include the need to identify and know their customers (including beneficial owners), conduct regular account reviews, and monitor and report any suspicious transaction.

The requirements and expectations on financial institutions are set out in MAS' AML/CFT Notices,Guidelines,and other Guidanceissued by MAS.

Financial institutions should also refer to:

  • AML/CFT announcements and media releases for information on high-risk jurisdictions.
  • AML/CFT Guidance Papers issued by international bodies, including the FATF.

Financial institutions must also comply with the various Regulations made pursuant to section 192, read with sections 15(1)(b) and 219(d), of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 to discharge or facilitate the discharge of Singapore’s obligations by virtue of decisions of the Security Council of the United Nations. They must also comply with obligations to combat terrorism financing such as those found in the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Singapore Government has imposed sanctions and restrictions against Russia. All financial institutions must comply with the financial measures set out in the Notices.

More information can be found here.

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 , a financial institution that fails or refuses to comply with any requirements in the applicable AML/CFT Notice is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1 million for each offence. In the case of a continuing offence, such a financial institution will be subject to a further fine of $100,000 for every day or part of the day during which the offence continues after conviction.

Resources

Access ACIP best practice papers for guarding against trade-based money laundering and the misuse of company structures for illicit purposes.

Download Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) forms and file them through the STRO Online Notices And Reporting (SONAR) platform. It collects machine readable structured data for better analytics.

What's New

  • Media Releases

    Published Date: 02 April 2024

    MAS introduced amendments to the Payment Services Act (PS Act) and its subsidiary legislation to expand the scope of payment services regulated by MAS, and to impose user protection and financial stability-related requirements on digital payment token (DPT) service providers.

  • Media Releases

    Published Date: 01 April 2024

    MAS has launched COSMIC, the first centralised digital platform to facilitate sharing of customer information among financial institutions to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing globally.

  • Media Releases

    Published Date: 16 August 2023

    MAS had worked closely with the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) to facilitate the development of the case that led to the Police’s arrest of 10 individuals for suspected involvement in offences including forgery and/or money laundering and resistance to lawful apprehension. MAS has also been collaborating closely with CAD to identify potentially tainted funds and assets in our financial system and prevent their dissipation.

  • Speeches

    Published Date: 09 May 2023

    The Second Reading Speech for the Financial Services and Markets (Amendment) Bill provides an overview of COSMIC (Collaborative Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases), highlights the main amendments of the Bill, and how it will support responsible information sharing within the COSMIC platform.

  • Media Releases

    Published Date: 07 October 2022

    Singapore announces Five-Pronged Strategy to Counter the Financing of Terrorism

View more
Anti-Money Laundering (2024)

FAQs

How do you complete an anti money laundering check? ›

What information is required for AML checks?
  1. Name.
  2. Photograph on an official document which confirms their identity, such as a driving licence or passport.
  3. Proof of residential address.
  4. Date of birth.

What is money laundering answers? ›

Money laundering is the process of concealing the proceeds of crime and integrating them into the legal financial system and also a method used to hide the nature, source, location, situation, and movement of a crime or to give a legitimate source image to the proceeds of crime.

What is the $3000 rule in banking? ›

Treasury regulation 31 CFR 103.29 prohibits financial. institutions from issuing or selling monetary instruments. purchased with cash in amounts of $3,000 to $10,000, inclusive, unless it obtains and records certain identifying. information on the purchaser and specific transaction.

What does an AML check look at? ›

An AML Check, or Anti-Money Laundering Check, is a type of identity verification process used to establish whether an individual is involved in money laundering activities.

What is an AML checklist? ›

AML/CFT audit checklist includes beneficial ownership, source of wealth, involvement in past or present frauds, incomplete documentation, unnecessary use of intermediaries, and many more. What AML checks are required? Companies must perform AML checks of customers, suppliers, and employees.

What is a red flag in anti-money laundering terms? ›

AML red flags are common warning signs alerting firms and law enforcement to a suspicious transaction that may involve money laundering.

What is the easiest way to explain money laundering? ›

Money laundering is the illegal process of converting money earned from illegal activities into “clean” money – that is, money that can be freely used in legitimate business operations and does not have to be concealed from the authorities.

What is anti-money laundering in simple words? ›

Anti-money laundering (AML) is a set of rules, principles, legislations, laws, regulations, processes, and tools specific to the financial sector, whose goal is to tackle actions of laundering illicitly obtained funds by criminal or terrorist organizations.

What is anti-money laundering solution? ›

Anti-money laundering (AML) software allows companies to prevent, detect, investigate and report suspicious activity indicative of money laundering, terrorist financing and fraud. For most firms, the software sits at the heart of an organization's AML compliance efforts.

What is an example of anti-money laundering? ›

For example, a large deposit of cash into an account could prompt a bank to ask the depositor to verify the source of the money. While this may annoy customers who aren't doing anything wrong, the process is necessary to identify those who are up to mischief. KYC is a cornerstone of any AML compliance program.

Is depositing $2000 in cash suspicious? ›

Depending on the situation, deposits smaller than $10,000 can also get the attention of the IRS. For example, if you usually have less than $1,000 in a checking account or savings account, and all of a sudden, you make bank deposits worth $5,000, the bank will likely file a suspicious activity report on your deposit.

How much cash can you keep at home legally in the US? ›

The government has no regulations on the amount of money you can legally keep in your house or even the amount of money you can legally own overall. Just, the problem with keeping so much money in one place (likely in the form of cash) — it's very vulnerable to being lost.

How much cash can I deposit in a year without being flagged? ›

Banks are required to report when customers deposit more than $10,000 in cash at once. A Currency Transaction Report must be filled out and sent to the IRS and FinCEN. The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 dictates that banks keep records of deposits over $10,000 to help prevent financial crime.

How do I verify anti-money laundering? ›

Requirements for AML verification typically include:
  1. Verification of personal details like name, date of birth, address, and more.
  2. Checking the customer against sanction lists, PEP (Politically Exposed Persons) lists, and other relevant databases.
  3. Determining the source of funds or wealth.
Oct 5, 2023

How do I get an anti-money laundering check? ›

In order to process an Anti-Money Laundering Check (AML Check), the applicant is required to provide the following documentation and information:
  1. Australian Passport or Driver's Licence.
  2. International Passport or other identification documentation for each country of residence.
  3. personal contact information.

What checks are done for AML? ›

Bone marrow biopsy

AML begins in the bone marrow, so checking the bone marrow for leukaemia cells is an important test. This is one of the main tests used to confirm a diagnosis of AML. Bone marrow is a soft, spongy tissue found in the centre of large bones. It is where the body makes its blood cells.

Who should pay for AML checks? ›

So yes, estate agents do usually burden the cost of those first AML checks, but it is also right that the client pays for others during the conveyancing process. Participation in AML checks is something that every property professional should take pride in and every client should understand and appreciate.

References

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