The latest compliance news: regulatory developments, punishments, guidance, permissions and new product and service offerings.

Earlier this month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore acted against nine financial institutions and several people for anti-money laundering related breaches. In total, S$27.45 million ($21.45 million) in penalties were imposed for AML and countering the financing of terrorism requirements.

The watchdog’s actions come at a time when the Asian city-state has been tightening the screws on banks and other financial institutions’ compliance procedures. Singapore was rocked about two years ago by a major money laundering court case. One impact of the saga, so industry figures tell WealthBriefingAsia, is that client onboarding is now a major challenge for banks and other institutions, putting a premium on talent development and tech solutions in this area. (For more on the matter, see here and here.)

The regulator said the penalties accounted for factors including the extent of the financial institution’s exposure to the POIs [persons of interest], the number of breaches of MAS’ requirements, and the degree of weakness in the institution’s AML/CFT controls. The composition penalties are as follows:

Banks
Credit Suisse Singapore Branch (CSSB) – S$5.8 million; 
United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) – S$5.6 million; 
UBS AG, Singapore Branch (UBSS) – S$3 million; 
Citibank NA Singapore (CNAS) and Citibank Singapore Limited (CSL), collectively “Citi” – S$2.6 million; 
Bank Julius Baer & Co Ltd, Singapore Branch (BJBS) – S$2.4 million; and 
LGT Bank (Singapore) Ltd (LGTS) – S$1 million.

Capital Market Services Licence Holders 
UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) – S$2.85 million; 
Blue Ocean Invest Pte Ltd (BOIPL) – S$2.4 million; 
Licensed Trust Company; and
Trident Trust Company (Singapore) Pte Limited (TTCSPL) – S$1.8 million.

MAS said the breaches were identified during its checks on financial institutions from early 2023 to early 2025. 

“Overall, MAS observed that most of the FIs had established AML/CFT policies and controls. The breaches arose out of poor or inconsistent implementation of these policies and controls. The financial institutions have embarked on remediation of the deficiencies and MAS will monitor their progress closely,” it said in a statement. 

MAS said it found shortcomings in the areas of:
Customer risk assessment, establishing and corroborating sources of wealth, transaction monitoring, and follow-up on suspicious transaction reports.

Prohibition orders
The regulator issued prohibition orders ranging from three to six years in duration to the following individuals:

Tsao Chung-Yi, chief executive and executive director of BOIPL (Blue Ocean Invest Pte). Tsao was issued with a six-year PO with effect from 1 August 2025;
Wong Xuan Ling, chief operating officer BOIPL. Wong was issued with a five-year PO with effect from 1 August 2025;
Mr Hsia Lun Wei, executive director and relationship manager of BOIPL. Hsia was issued with a three-year PO with effect from 30 June 2025; and
Deng Xixi, former RM of BOIPL, was issued with a three-year PO with effect from 30 June 2025.

Reprimands
MAS has issued reprimands to the following individuals for a series of lapses:

a, For failure to ensure TTCSPL’s compliance with MAS’ requirements:
Sean Andrew Coughlan, managing director, ED and resident manager of TTCSPL;
Tan Ho Kiat, COO, ED and head of compliance of TTCSPL; and
Kek Yen Leng, ED, head of trust administration, and resident manager of TTCSPL.

b, For failures to conduct or ensure proper due diligence or post-suspicious transaction report follow-up in respect of several POIs:
Ang Sze Hee, Alvin, former team head of group Retail Privilege Banking, UOB; and
Tan Sheng Rong, Leonard, former team head of group Retail Privilege Banking, UOB.

Another nine RMs and RM supervisors were privately reprimanded for more limited lapses.