Singapore's Monetary Authority Releases 2024 Money Laundering Risk Assessment Report

According to Odaily, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has recently published the '2024 Money Laundering Risk Assessment Report'. The report outlines Singapore's ongoing efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) framework in response to an ever-changing risk environment. The report provides an extensive analysis of Singapore's primary money laundering (ML) risks, incorporating various qualitative and quantitative indicators related to threats, vulnerabilities, and control measures. It highlights major money laundering threats such as fraud, particularly online fraud, organized crime, corruption, tax crimes, and transaction-based money laundering. The report points out that due to the wide range of banking services and large transaction volumes, the banking sector faces the highest money laundering risk. Banks are often used for various types of money laundering, including self-laundering, third-party laundering, and the abuse of corporate and personal accounts to layer and integrate illegal funds. Furthermore, the report identifies significant risks associated with digital assets and cryptocurrencies. The assessment emphasizes that digital payment tokens (DPT) have become an emerging channel for money laundering. Criminals exploit these tokens through online fraud, ransomware, and dark web market transactions. To mitigate these risks, MAS has implemented strict regulatory measures under the Payment Services Act (PS Act). Digital payment token service providers must obtain a license and comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) requirements. MAS conducts regular thematic inspections and off-site supervision and issues guidance documents to raise industry awareness and control measures.