Category Archives: MAS Updates

MAS Updates

10.19.15
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MAS charges 3 with running unlicensed MSB

Enforcement Actions against Unlicensed Remittance Operators

SPF Monetary Authority of Singapore

Singapore, 22 September 2015… Two women and one man, aged between 48 to 59, will be charged in Court for their suspected involvement in carrying on remittance businesses without a valid remittance licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

They are suspected of operating unlicensed remittance businesses by transferring money from customers to overseas recipients for a fee.

All three suspects have been summoned to attend Court on 23 September 2015, 10 am at Court 23. Each of them will face a charge of carrying on a remittance business without a remittance licence under Sec 6(1) of the Money-changing and Remittance Businesses Act, Chapter 187. If convicted, each of them is liable to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or a maximum jail term of two years or to both.

Mr David Chew, Director, Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), said, “CAD will not hesitate to take swift action against any individual or entity involved in unlicensed remittance businesses. Such activities also pose a risk to members of the public who engage their services. We would like to encourage members of the public to report unlicensed money-changing or remittance businesses to the Police or MAS.”

Mr Chua Kim Leng, Assistant Managing Director, Banking and Insurance Group, MAS, said, “MAS takes a serious view of anyone who carries on a remittance business without a valid licence. Such unlicensed operators conduct their businesses without any regulatory oversight and are at risk of being used as conduits for money laundering activities. Members of the public who wish to remit money to another country should do so through a licensed bank or licensed remittance agent.”

Link:

MAS Notice

 

03.23.15
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March 6, 2015: Singapore adopts UN sanctions on Yemen

On March 3rd, Singapore passed (for effect on March 6th), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (Freezing of Assets of Persons – Yemen) Regulations 2015. In a nutshell, Singaporean financial institutions (the only ones subject to the Regulations) are to freeze assets of those designated by the UN under Resolution 2140 (2014).

Link:

Monetary Authority of Singapore (Freezing of Assets of Persons – Yemen) Regulations 2015

 

05.07.14
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Singapore to comply with FATCA

Tuesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued the following statement:

Agreement to Facilitate Compliance by Singapore Financial Institutions with US Tax Laws

1. Singapore and the US have substantially concluded discussions on an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that will facilitate compliance with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) by Singapore-based financial institutions. The two countries have initialled a Model 1 IGA.

2. FATCA is a US law which targets non-compliance with tax laws by US persons using overseas accounts. Under FATCA, all financial institutions outside of the US are required to regularly submit information on financial accounts held by US persons to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

3. Under the Model 1 IGA, Singapore-based financial institutions will report information on financial accounts held by US persons to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), which will in turn provide the information to the US IRS. Transmitting this information through IRAS helps to ease the compliance burden for our financial institutions1 as their reporting obligations would be deemed met once they have transmitted the information to IRAS.

4. Following the initialling of the IGA, the parties expect to sign the agreement in the second half of 2014. Singapore-based financial institutions will have until 31 December 2014 to register as a Foreign Financial Institution within a Model 1 IGA jurisdiction and obtain a Global Intermediary Identification Number at the US IRS’ online FATCA registration portal2. This will ensure that there is no FATCA-related withholding tax on payments made to them from the US.

ISSUED BY

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

MONETARY AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE

INLAND REVENUE AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE

6 MAY 2014

 

Link:

MAS Statement

 

03.17.14
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Singapore goes the way of FinCEN on Virtual Currencies

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a notice last Thursday announcing its intention to regulate virtual currencies in order to manage AML/CTF risks:

2 Virtual currency transactions, given their anonymous nature, are particularly vulnerable to ML/TF risks. To address this, MAS will introduce regulations to require virtual currency intermediaries1 that buy, sell or facilitate the exchange of virtual currencies for real currencies to verify the identities of their customers and report suspicious transactions to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office.2 The requirements will be similar to those imposed on money changers and remittance businesses who undertake cash transactions.

3 Singapore, like most jurisdictions, does not regulate virtual currencies per se, as these are not considered as securities or legal tender. MAS’ regulation of virtual currency intermediaries pertains specifically to the money laundering and terrorist financing risks they pose. It does not extend to the safety and soundness of virtual currency intermediaries nor the proper functioning of virtual currency transactions. Investors in virtual currencies will not have the safeguards that investors in securities enjoy under the Securities and Futures Act and the Financial Advisers Act.

MAS' approach is similar to that of FinCEN and more measured than the banning of Bitcoin and its ilk in a number of other countries, including Thailand, Germany and China.

Link:

MAS Notice

 

07.05.13
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Yesterday’s News: MAS Publicizes June 21 FATF Statement

As FinCEN and OSFI have done, the Monetary Authority of Singapore Issued the following statement on its website:

4 July 2013 FATF Statement

On 21 June 2013, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), of which Singapore is a member, issued an updated statement that highlighted the strategic deficiencies in the anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes of 2 groups of jurisdictions:

– Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran which have shown no commitment to address their AML/CFT deficiencies.

– Jurisdictions such as Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Tanzania, Turkey, Vietnam and Yemen, which have not made sufficient progress in addressing their strategic deficiencies.

Details of the FATF statement can be found at:

http://www.fatf-gafi.org/topics/high-riskandnon-cooperativejurisdictions/documents/public-statement-june-2013.html

Financial institutions are advised to accord due consideration to the above FATF statement and take the appropriate action(s) as recommended by the FATF with respect to the named jurisdictions.

Separately, FATF has issued an updated statement on its on-going process to improve global AML/CFT compliance. This statement provides information on a list of jurisdictions that have committed to action plans to address and strengthen their respective AML/CFT deficiencies. The second FATF statement can be found at:

http://www.fatf-gafi.org/topics/high-riskandnon-cooperativejurisdictions/documents/compliance-june-2013.html

Link:

MAS Notice