Combating money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing are priorities for MAS. We require our financial institutions to have sufficiently robust controls to detect and deter such illicit activities. We also partner the industry to bolster their defences, by engaging them on emerging risks, evolving criminal typologies and industry best practices. MAS is firmly committed to safeguarding Singapore as a clean and trusted financial centre.

Singapore is an active member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard setting and oversight body for anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF). Singapore collaborates closely with fellow AML/CFT/CPF policy makers and supervisors to develop international standards. We are also a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering.

The controls that MAS requires of financial institutions include the need to identify and know their customers (including beneficial owners), conduct regular account reviews, and monitor and report any suspicious transaction.

Financial institutions must also comply with the various Regulations made pursuant to section 192, read with sections 15(1)(b) and 219(d), of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 to discharge or facilitate the discharge of Singapore’s obligations by virtue of decisions of the Security Council of the United Nations. They must also comply with obligations to combat terrorism financing such as those found in the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002.

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 , a financial institution that fails or refuses to comply with any requirements in the applicable AML/CFT Notice is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1 million for each offence.  In the case of a continuing offence, such a financial institution will be subject to a further fine of $100,000 for every day or part of the day during which the offence continues after conviction.

Maintaining an effective framework against money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF) protects Singapore’s system from illegal activities and illicit asset flows and reinforces Singapore’s reputation as a trusted international financial centre and business hub.

Singapore’s efforts in anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), and countering of proliferation financing (CPF) are led by the AML/CFT Steering Committee, which comprises the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The links below sets out Singapore’s AML/CFT/CPF-related strategies:   

National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy This expands on Singapore’s National Policy Statement (2016)
National Strategy for Countering the Financing of Terrorism This refreshes the Singapore National CFT Strategy (2022)
Proliferation Financing (PF) National Risk Assessment and Counter-PF Strategy
National Asset Recovery Strategy
Law Enforcement Strategy to Combat Money Laundering (1.11 MB)

The identification, assessment and understanding of risks underpin the effectiveness of Singapore’s efforts in AML/CFT/CPF. Singapore thus closely monitors our ML/TF/PF risks on an ongoing basis. 

Find Out More About Singapore's risk assessments

COllaborative Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases (COSMIC) is a digital platform where financial institutions (FIs) collaborate to detect criminal activities. COSMIC allows FIs to securely share with one another, information on customers who exhibit multiple “red flags” that may indicate potential financial crime concerns, if stipulated thresholds are met. This makes it easier for FIs to detect and thereby deter criminal activity.