Explainer: How Singapore’s anti-money laundering rules tackle the scourge of ‘dirty money’ on different fronts

Valuable Metal AND Gemstones

Customer due diligence guidelines are also in place to stop money laundering involving” precious products ,” which are finished goods like jewelry, watches, and other items whose value is at least 50 % attributable to precious metals or stones.

Sellers are required to do such checks under the Precious Stones and Precipious Metals Act before conducting transactions involving money exceeding South$ 20,000 or if they suspect money laundering is involved.

If deals involve income in excess of Entropy$ 20,000, they must also submit income purchase information to the Commercial Affairs Department’s Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office. In contrast to STRs, retailers are required to file reports as long as the level is reached, regardless of whether they notice any suspicious customer behavior.

Since 2021, 96 police actions have been taken against sellers in precious gems and precious metals for breaking these rules.

According to Mrs. Teo, high-value resources like luxury cars and bags are not regulated. This complies with the Financial Action Task Force’s recommendations for global procedures.

Beyond what has been suggested, he said,” We will see if Singapore needs to extend anti-money laundering needs to new groups of resources.”

She continued by saying that it needs to be carefully assessed to prevent the state from” excessively inconveniencing reputable businesses and customers.” & nbsp,

IMMIGRATION AND Immigrants

The government also examine programs for work catches and other immigration infrastructure and step up investigations on high-risk individuals, such as those with criminal records, who are wanted in international jurisdictions, or who may have used false identities, in order to identify those involved in money laundering.

Singapore has implemented frameworks to evaluate function go applications and other long-term immigration facilities to this end, incorporating data from various sources and agencies.

In order to identify and evaluate higher-risk programs, Mrs. Teo added that candidates are also screened against a database of people who have been blacklisted. & nbsp,

She continued,” Europeans found guilty of an offense in Singapore may become deported from Singapore and, in some cases, completely banned.” & nbsp,

However, no screening procedure is flawless, and the general public should be on the lookout for” knee jerk reactions ,” which could make Singapore’s business climate hostile to foreigners, according to Mrs. Teo.

” We ought to remain practical. The majority of people are no thieves or improper cash launderers. The vast majority of stupid applicants will be excessively penalized if we make the rules very strict. The thieves may continue to look for a way to get around the laws, she said.

This article was first released in TODAY.