MAS fines 4 entities S$3.8m for failures in anti-money laundering controls

DBS and OCBC are fined S$2.6m and S$600,000, respectively.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed penalties amounting to S$3.8m on Citibank, DBS, OCBC, and Swiss Life for breaches of its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements.

DBS is penalized S$2.6m for breaches between June 2015 to February 2020 related to accounts maintained by 11 corporate customers.

OCBC is being penalized S$600,000 for breaches between June 2015 and January 2016 relating to accounts maintained by one corporate customer. 

Citibank faces a composition penalty of S$400,000 for breaches between September 2019 and June 2020 for breaches relating to accounts maintained by 2 corporate customers.

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Swiss Life Singapore is penalized S$200,000 for breaches in May 2017 related to an investment-linked life insurance policy underwritten by SLSG.

MAS said that whilst the breaches were serious, it did not find wilful misconduct by any staff of these financial institutions (FIs).

“The FIs have taken prompt remedial actions to address the deficiencies identified by MAS. These include enhancements to their procedures and processes, and training to improve staff’s vigilance in detecting and escalating risk concernsm,” Singapore’s financial regulator said in a statement published on its website.

MAS added that the FIs are required to ensure sustained effectiveness of these enhancements.