Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- The Monetary Authority of Singapore takes “a serious view of the matter and will take firm action against any financial institution or individual that is found to have breached MAS’ requirements relating to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism", according to emailed statement from MAS spokesperson dated Oct. 9.

• MAS has put in place a robust regime to detect and deter illicit activities in country’s financial sector
  • Financial institutions are required to assess, understand nature and extent of risks posed by customers; verify identities of customers, incl. beneficial owners; inquire about source of funds and/or source of wealth and monitor customers’ transactions as well as perform regular account reviews
• "Singapore will not tolerate the abuse of its financial system as a refuge or conduit for tax-illicit funds": MAS spokesperson
• MAS has not hesitated to take firm action against financial institutions with control deficiencies, and have imposed financial penalties and prohibition orders on culpable individuals where there are serious lapses
• NOTE: StanChart Is Said to Be Probed on $1.4 Billion Client Transfers

To contact the reporters on this story: Serene Cheong in Singapore at scheong20@bloomberg.net; Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net Ron Harui