Compliance Corner: Monetary Authority Of Singapore

Editorial Staff

8 March 2023

Monetary Authority of Singapore
Authorities in Singapore have reiterated that they are working with major retail banks to tighten controls over global payments to foil criminals, coming at a time when the Asian city-state has built links with India and Thailand in recent years.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, senior minister and minister in charge of the , responding to a parliamentary question, said the government was “keenly aware” of the risks.

“We have seen scammers make use of faster cross-border payments to transfer their criminal proceeds out of Singapore, to where it is difficult to trace, and beyond the jurisdiction of our police to freeze. The government is working actively to address this risk both domestically and in collaboration with our international counterparts,” Shanmugaratnam said.

“Domestically, MAS has worked with our major retail banks to tighten and implement anti-scam controls. These include lowering the default transaction notification threshold to S$100 ($74.3) or lower, alongside the daily limit of S$1,000 or lower for real time cross-border transfers. Banks actively monitor changes in scam typologies and will adjust these measures as appropriate,” the minister said.