Indranee Rajah, the minister in the prime minister’s office, refuted a Financial Times (FT ) report that claimed government meetings with top international banks were “unusual.”
The Apr 20 content, titled” Singapore gives top- level briefings to comfort international banks on stability”, said the government had given global banks an “unusual series of leading- level briefings on geopolitics”.
In a time when China and the West are at an increased level of tension, the post claimed, this was to comfort the banks.
Ms. Indranee objected to the way that these meetings were organized by FT in a composed political response to Member of Parliament Louis Chua ( WP- Sengkang ) who had questioned Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong about the goals and key messages of these meetings.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, Ms. Indranee stated,” It is astonishing that such a badly sourced story, vainly looking for a point, could have been published in a big paper like FT, particularly after we constantly clarified matters with the reporter, including telling her that meetings were not unusual,”
Mercedes Ruehl, FT’s journalist for Southeast Asia and Singapore, wrote the article. She has lived in Singapore since 2020, according to her LinkedIn page.  ,
The FT did not report what we told its writer, which is that almost all of the presentations mentioned by the officials had already been made public by the officials on their own social media accounts, according to Ms Indranee.
Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean led several of these meetings, according to a FT post citing a cite a reputable source with knowledge of the discussions.
According to FT, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, even spoke at these sessions.
The article lists some of the US and Western financial organizations that participated in the meetings alongside Standard Chartered and Citigroup. Local businesses were likewise involved, said FT.
Ms. Indranee wrote in response that she claimed officials and government leaders have been holding these meetings for “decades.” Events involved in for meetings include not only financial institutions – international and local – but likewise groups such as businesses, non- political organisations, unionists and students.
” In brief, we engage as widely as possible”, said Ms Indranee.
ANTI- MONEY LAUNDERING EFFORTS
In response to a multi-billion dollar case, which is the largest in Singapore, Mr. Chua also posed a query to the Prime Minister about plans to tighten anti-money laundering laws.
Five of the defendants have already received their sentences, with prison sentences ranging from 13 to 15 months.
An inter-ministerial committee will update its findings in” the coming months,” according to Ms. Indranee.
This committee’s formation was announced in October 2023. It is chaired by Ms Indranee, who is also the Second Minister for Finance.
The committee is made up of political office holders from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and four ministries: Home Affairs, Law, Manpower, and Trade and Industry.