Monetary Authority of Singapore
Dear Sir,
Stopping the Casino Spin Cycle (The Sunday Times, 16 January 2005) suggested that Singapore's banking confidentiality provisions could be abused by criminals.
2 Banking confidentiality is provided for by law to address the right of bank customers to basic financial privacy. It does not shield criminal activity.
3 The Monetary Authority of Singapore requires banks and other regulated financial institutions operating in Singapore to institute rigorous procedures for identifying customers and reporting suspicious transactions. These rules are benchmarked against international standards recommended by the Financial Action Task Force.
4 Singapore has been assessed by the IMF/World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Programme to have a comprehensive legal, institutional, policy and supervisory framework to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The assessors also noted that our financial institutions have a strong compliance culture for requirements to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Yours sincerely,
Angelina Fernandez
Director (Communications)