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Business Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Credit Suisse, UOB, UBS, Citi among 9 financial institutions penalised S$27.5 million for roles in S$3b money laundering case
[SINGAPORE] Nine financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore have been penalised a total of S$27.5 million for anti-money laundering (AML) related breaches, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The penalties relate to the S$3 billion money laundering case from August 2023, and marks the conclusion of MAS' enforcement against FIs with material nexus to the case, the central bank and financial regulatory authority said on Friday (Jul 4). UOB is the only local bank on the list, receiving the second-highest composition penalty at S$5.6 million. Other banks on the list are the Singapore arms of Credit Suisse, UBS, Citi, Julius Baer and LGT Bank. MAS has penalised UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH), Blue Ocean Invest and Trident Trust Company in Singapore as well. The penalty on Credit Suisse – the highest on the list at S$5.8 million – also accounts for breaches of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements from November 2017 to October 2023, relating to accounts it maintained for certain US customers. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up MAS' composition penalties took into account various factors, including the extent of the FIs' exposure to the persons of interest in the case, the number of breaches to AML/CFT requirements, and the degree of weakness in the FI's AML/CFT controls. MAS said that most of the FIs had established AML/CFT policies and controls, with the breaches arising out of 'poor or inconsistent implementation'. Julius Baer, Citi, Credit Suisse, Blue Ocean Invest and UOBKH failed to implement adequate policies or processes for the rating of money-laundering risks presented by some of its customers, resulting in misratings. All nine FIs did not detect or adequately follow up on significant discrepancies or red flags noted in information or documents that should have cast doubt on some customers' purported source of wealth. In some cases, there was no corroboration of significant aspects of their source of wealth, MAS said. All the FIs, except Blue Ocean Invest, failed to adequately review relevant transactions flagged as suspicious by their own systems. UOB and UOBKH also failed to take adequate and timely risk mitigation measures on the customers on which they had filed suspicious transaction reports. For specific individuals, MAS issued prohibition orders – ranging from three to six years – to four individuals from Blue Ocean Invest. Tsao Chung-Yi, chief executive and executive director Wong Xuan Ling, chief operating officer Henry Hsia, executive director and relationship manager Deng Xixi, former relationship manager MAS also issued reprimands to individuals from Trident Trust and UOB for lapses. Sean Andrew Coughlan, managing director, executive director and resident manager, Trident Trust Tan Ho Kiat, chief operating officer, executive director and head of compliance, Trident Trust Kek Yen Leng, executive director, head of trust administration and resident manager, Trident Trust Alvin Ang, former team head of group retail privilege banking, UOB Leonard Tan, former team head of group retail privilege banking, UOB Another nine relationship managers and supervisors were privately reprimanded for more limited lapses. MAS said that it had reviewed the conduct of a larger number of employees of the FIs connected to the case, but did not find evidence of significant lapses by most of them. However, it said that it may take action against a few remaining individuals after the ongoing court proceedings or investigations havae concluded. MAS added that the FIs have embarked on remediation of the deficiencies, and it will monitor their progress. Affected banks, including UOB, Citi, UBS and Julius Baer, said that they acknowledge the penalties and have taken steps to improve their AML controls, in response to queries from The Business Times. In 2017, the authority took action against several financial institutions for their involvement in the 1MDB scandal. Two banks, BSI Bank and Falcon Bank, were shut down, and total financial penalties of S$29.1 million were imposed on eight banks for various breaches of AML requirements. The banks included DBS, UOB, UBS, Standard Chartered and Credit Suisse.
Business Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Credit Suisse, UOB, UBS, Citi among 9 financial institutions penalised S$27 million for roles in S$3b money laundering case
[SINGAPORE] Nine financial institutions (FIs) in Singapore have been penalised a total of S$27.5 million for anti-money laundering related breaches, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The penalties relate to the S$3 billion money laundering case from August 2023, and marks the conclusion of MAS' enforcement against FIs with material nexus to the case, the central bank and financial regulatory authority said on Friday (Jul 4). UOB is the only local bank on the list, receiving the second-highest composition penalty at S$5.6 million. Other banks on the list are the Singapore arms of Credit Suisse, UBS, Citi, Julius Baer and LGT Bank. MAS has penalised UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH), Blue Ocean Invest and Trident Trust Company in Singapore as well. The penalty on Credit Suisse – the highest on the list at S$5.8 million – also accounts for breaches of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements from November 2017 to October 2023, relating to accounts it maintained for certain US customers. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up MAS' composition penalties took into account various factors, including the extent of the FIs' exposure to the persons of interest in the case, the number of breaches to AML/CFT requirements, and the degree of weakness in the FI's AML/CFT controls. MAS said most of the FIs had established AML/CFT policies and controls, with the breaches arising out of 'poor or inconsistent implementation'. Julius Baer, Citi, Credit Suisse, Blue Ocean Invest and UOBKH failed to implement adequate policies or processes for the rating of money-laundering risks presented by some of its customers, resulting in misratings. All nine FIs did not detect or adequately follow up on significant discrepancies or red flags noted in information or documents that should have cast doubt on some customers' purported source of wealth. In some cases, there was no corroboration of significant aspects of their source of wealth, MAS said. All the FIs, except Blue Ocean Invest, failed to adequately review relevant transactions flagged as suspicious by their own systems. UOB and UOBKH also failed to take adequate and timely risk mitigation measures on the customers on which they had filed suspicious transaction reports. For specific individuals, MAS issued prohibition orders – ranging from three to six years – to four individuals from Blue Ocean Invest. Tsao Chung-Yi, chief executive and executive director Wong Xuan Ling, chief operating officer Henry Hsia, executive director and relationship manager Deng Xixi, former relationship manager MAS also issued reprimands to individuals from Trident Trust and UOB for lapses. Sean Andrew Coughlan, managing director, executive director and resident manager, Trident Trust Tan Ho Kiat, chief operating officer, executive director and head of compliance, Trident Trust Kek Yen Leng, executive director, head of trust administration and resident manager, Trident Trust Alvin Ang, former team head of group retail privilege banking, UOB Leonard Tan, former team head of group retail privilege banking, UOB Another nine relationship managers and supervisors were privately reprimanded for more limited lapses. MAS said it had reviewed the conduct of a larger number of employees of the FIs connected to the case, but did not find evidence of significant lapses by most of them. However, it said that it may take action against a few remaining individuals after the ongoing court proceedings or investigations havae concluded. MAS said the FIs have embarked on remediation of the deficiencies, and MAS will monitor their progress. Affected banks, including UOB, Citi, UBS and Julius Baer, said they acknowledge the penalties and have taken steps to improve their AML controls, in response to queries from The Business Times. In 2017, the authority took action against several financial institutions for their involvement in the 1MDB scandal. Two banks, BSI Bank and Falcon Bank, were shut down, and total financial penalties of S$29.1 million were imposed on eight banks for various breaches of AML requirements. The banks included DBS, UOB, UBS, Standard Chartered and Credit Suisse.
Straits Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
$3b money laundering case: 9 financial institutions handed $27.45m in MAS penalties over breaches
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox MAS said eight of the nine financial institutions did not review transactions flagged as suspicious by their own systems. SINGAPORE - Credit Suisse (Singapore Branch) and UOB were each handed more than $5 million in penalties for flouting anti-money laundering controls related to the $3 billion money laundering case in 2023. They were among nine financial institutions (FIs) handed $27.45 million in composition penalties by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). On July 4, MAS announced the penalties and said it also took action against 18 individuals who work for the FIs . Credit Suisse, which was rescued and taken over by UBS in 2023 , faced the highest penalty of $5.8 million. This also took into account its breaches from November 2017 to October 2023 in relation to accounts the now defunct Swiss bank maintained on behalf of certain US customers. UOB was next with penalties amounting to $5.6 million and UBS at $3 million. The other FIs are brokerage UOB Kay Hian, asset manager Blue Ocean Invest, Citibank N.A. Singapore and Citibank Singapore collectively known as Citi, and the Singapore branches of Julius Baer, LGT Bank as well as fund services firm Trident Trust. MAS said the FIs did not adequately check on customers' sources of wealth, even though there were discrepancies in the documents they had provided. In fact, eight of the nine FIs did not adequately investigate suspicious transactions flagged by their own systems. Singapore's largest case of money laundering involving $3 billion in cash and assets saw 10 foreigners arrested in multiple islandwide raids here on Aug 15, 2023. The nine men and one woman , who were originally from Fujian, China, were jailed, deported and barred from re-entering Singapore. The group had dealings with several FIs here. MAS took action against FI staff involved in managing relationships with members of the gang. P rohibition orders of between three and six years were slapped on four people from Blue Ocean Invest. They are the company's chief executive officer and executive director Mr Tsao Chung-Yi; chief operating officer Ms Wong Xuan Ling; executive director and relationship manager Mr Henry Hsia Lun Wei; and former relationship manager Ms Deng Xixi. MAS said as senior managers, Mr Tsao and Ms Wong had failed in several areas, including developing adequate policies and ensuring these were subject to audits. The prohibition orders mean they cannot manage and provide any FI services for the duration of the order. Additionally, MAS issued reprimands to three executive directors from Trident Trust and two former team heads from UOB. Trident Trust's executive directors Mr Sean Andrew Coughlan, Mr Tan Ho Kiat and Ms Kek Yen Leng had all failed to detect or adequately assess multiple deficiencies during the onboarding of higher risk customers. UOB's former team heads of group retail privilege banking Mr Alvin Ang Sze Hee and Mr Leonard Tan Sheng Rong had failed to conduct or ensure proper due diligence. MAS said another nine relationship managers and supervisors were privately reprimanded for more limited lapses. They were not named by the authority. Reprimands do not necessarily mean the individual is currently unfit or improper, but are issued based on their misconduct at the material time, said MAS. MAS added it reviewed the conduct of a larger number of employees of the FIs linked to the case, but did not find evidence of significant lapses by most of them. However, action may still be taken against several others , after the conclusion of ongoing court proceedings and investigations. At $27.45 million, the penalties are smaller than the $29.1 million imposed on eight banks in 2017 for various anti-money laundering breaches related to Malaysia's 1MDB case. That case saw BSI Bank slapped with $13.3 million, and Falcon Bank with $4.3 million in penalties . Both merchant banks had their bank status pulled and were shut down. The Straits Times understands that while the financial penalties on the $3 billion money laundering case were not the largest, the supervisory engagements are one of the most extensive and complex. A ction has been taken against several others linked to it . Wang Junjie, a former director at a corporate service provider was sanctioned by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and then charged with forgery in January. Two former relationship managers at banks, Liu Kai and Wang Qiming, were charged in August 2024 with allegedly facilitating the movement of illicit funds. The cases of all three are still pending. Two property agents, Tiew Chin Nee and Zhu Zhengxin, have been fined for their involvement in the case. And Liew Yik Kit, the personal driver of one of the fugitives, was the first Singaporean to be dealt with. He was jailed for three months after pleading guilty to lying to the police . MAS said the penalties it has imposed took into account numerous factors including the extent of the FI's exposure to the money launderers, the number of breaches and the degree of weakness in their anti-money laundering controls. Ms Ho Hern Shin, MAS' deputy managing director of financial supervision, said it will work closely with FIs to promote more consistent implementation of anti-money laundering measures. She added the vigilance of FIs and their employees was critical, and MAS will take firm action where there are serious failings. The maximum fine for breaching MAS' requirements for the prevention of money laundering on banks, merchant banks, capital market intermediaries and licensed trust companies is $1 million per offence. Blue Ocean Invest acknowledges MAS's findings and said it has implemented measures to enhance its internal policies and procedures. UOB said since the saga, it has implemented prompt remedial actions to address the deficiencies identified after a comprehensive internal review. These included stepping up on its transaction monitoring and customer due diligence processes. UOB added that it has conducted a thorough assessment of the facts and circumstances surrounding the issues and staff involved, and taken appropriate actions to address accountability and discipline. An LGT spokesperson said the bank remains strongly committed to the fight against money laundering and safeguarding the integrity of Singapore's financial system.
