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.
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: 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
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Media Releases
Published Date: 07 October 2022
Singapore announces Five-Pronged Strategy to Counter the Financing of Terrorism