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(Bloomberg) -- UBS disappointed it did not do more to detect and report lapses earlier, Singapore spokesperson said in e-mailed statement.

• Bank is further strengthening controls and appropriate action will be taken against individuals responsible for the lapses
• NOTE: MAS imposed financial penalties amounting to S$1.3 million on UBS for 13 breaches of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules
• “We take our responsibility to help detect and fight financial crime very seriously and worked closely with the regulators to resolve this matter”
• UBS: determined not to be used as a platform for financial crime
• Bank to help establish an industry-wide anti-money laundering program to be run by an independent educational body, to help combat financial crime and reinforce Singapore’s status as a financial center
• NOTE: Related story Link

(Bloomberg) -- DBS takes anti-money laundering obligations seriously and accepts regulator’s decision, bank spokesman says in statement Tuesday.

• NOTE: DBS fined S$1m for 10 breaches by Monetary Authority of Singapore; other banks penalized include Falcon Bank, which in addition to a fine, was also asked to cease operations in Singapore
• MAS findings indicate DBS’s control weaknesses aren’t pervasive: statement
• Should have taken more rigorous action with respect to questionable activity, “even if it was intentionally designed to conceal another purpose,” DBS says
• MAS actions are for lapses that occurred in 2013 and 2014, bank has made “many enhancements” since then: DBS
• Firm will be taking “appropriate actions” to hold responsible staff accountable, including senior executives

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore central bank has imposed on Falcon Bank financial penalties amounting to S$4.3 million for 14 breaches of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules.

• Breaches include failures to adequately assess irregularities in activities pertaining to customer accounts, and file suspicious transaction reports
• MAS: Clients and customers of Falcon Bank are assured that the merchant bank, which is a branch of Falcon Private Bank Ltd. in Switzerland, has full support of its Head Office, which is financially sound
• MAS is working closely with FINMA, the home regulator of Falcon Private Bank Ltd., to oversee an orderly closure of the merchant bank branch in Singapore
• MAS imposed financial penalties amounting to S$1 million on DBS for 10 breaches and S$1.3 million on UBS for 13 breaches of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules
• MAS: control lapses observed in DBS and UBS relate to specific bank officers who failed to carry out their duties effectively
• MAS’ inspections did not find pervasive control weaknesses within these banks
• MAS has admonished the two banks and instructed their management to investigate the lapses, promptly address the control deficiencies, and take appropriate disciplinary measures against the staff involved

Story Link:NSN OEUXQB6KLVRF

(Bloomberg) -- Monetary Authority of Singapore withdrawing merchant bank status of Falcon Private Bank Ltd.’s Singapore branch for “serious failures in anti-money laundering controls and improper conduct by senior management at the head office in Switzerland as well as the Singapore Branch.”

• Falcon’s Singapore Branch Manager Jens Sturzenegger arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department on Oct. 5: MAS statement
• City-state also imposing financial penalties on DBS and UBS for breaches of anti-money laundering requirments