Having over 200,000 millionaires of its own, Singapore has become a sample for dramatic economic growth and this has earned Singapore the sixth spot globally in terms of household wealth per adult. This established capital abundance has necessitated the development of Singapore’s Wealth Management Industry, which has now become an internationally recognized financial centre for establishment of trusts, with around 60 licensed trust companies providing services there. Seeing this robust and growing wealth industry, there is a huge burden and role to play on the Singapore’s financial institutions including all licensed trust companies so as to detect, disrupt and deter any attempt to blemish the financial system for illicit purposes, hence the need for dedicated vigilance against evolving ML/TF risks.
In the next half a decade, the global wealth is expected to rise by 27%, in the view of that, more trusts have been emerging in Singapore and there has been increased scrutiny of the Singapore trust industry and its regulation particularly the one surrounding AML. Monetary Authority of Singapore has increased emphasis on the responsibilities of Board and Senior Management to inject strong ML/TF risk awareness and foster a sound risk management culture. MAS believes that the action will promote strong AML/CFT practices and behaviours.
