Singapore's central bank sets up dedicated anti-money laundering department

It will also step up enforcement.

Mere weeks after shutting down the operations of Swiss Bank BSI on back of money laundering charges, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has revealed that it will form a dedicated anti-money laundering department to combat illicit financial activities.

In addition, the regulator will also set up a dedicated supervisory team to monitor illicit financing risks and carry out onsite supervision of how financial institutions manage these risks.

These functions used to be carried out by different departments in MAS; the new structure will enhance supervisory focus, the central bank said in a statement.

The new enforcement department will continue to jointly investigate with the Commercial Affairs Department capital markets misconduct offences. In addition, the new department will be responsible for enforcement actions arising from regulatory breaches of MAS’ banking, insurance and capital markets regulations.

“We will strengthen our supervision of financial institutions’ controls to combat money laundering and illicit financing. And we will enhance our enforcement capability to deter poor controls or criminal behaviour in the industry,” said Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS