Singapore Says Banks Pose Highest Laundering Risk After Scandal
- New report says city-state is vulnerable to financial crime
- Over S$1.5 billion seized from bank accounts in record case
The skyline in Singapore.
Photographer: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Singapore said its banking sector poses the “highest” money laundering risks to the city-state, in the wake of a scandal involving over S$3 billion ($2.2 billion) in illicit assets.
The government released a 126-page report on Thursday that assessed the country’s money laundering risks. In it, authorities acknowledged the stark challenges they faced in the city’s push to attract the ultra-rich and burnish its credentials as an international financial and wealth hub. As a result, Singapore has become vulnerable to being used as a conduit to launder funds from financial fraud and other crimes committed abroad, it said.