Regulators in Singapore have developed an update on the country’s anti-money laundering and terrorism financing guidelines including a set of guidelines for digital payment services providers. According to the guidelines, payment service providers are required to have three lines of defence; ensuring that consumer-facing functions have robust mechanisms to detect illicit activities, having in place controls to monitor the service provider’s fulfilment of the AML/CFT duties, and developing an independent audit function.
The watchdog stated that the digital currencies industry was not big enough to have regulations in 2014, but with the recent development, there is a mandatory requirement for the industry to comply with AML/CFT regulations and is already monitoring the industry using a risk-based approach. MAS has therefore called on all other stakeholders to contribute the part in monitoring the virtual asset industry and identify how risks can be minimized. The agency also said that Singapore’s Payment Services Act will be effectively used in protecting customers.
