“However, we are determined to do whatever it takes to respond to these threats and protect Singapore’s reputation as a trusted financial centre,” Wong, who can be the state’s finance minister, said at a Financial Action Task Force event.
Singapore currently holds the two-year presidency of the worldwide anti-money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog, which is able to run until June 30.
The Southeast Asian country on Wednesday released a report on its national asset recovery strategy, which is a component of efforts to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing framework.
“Asset recovery is one of the key priorities of our AML system,” the inside, finance and central bank ministries said in a 32-page report.
“We seek to deprive criminals of their illicit profits, thereby removing the financial incentive to launder their money in Singapore,” the report said.
“We also strive to provide assistance to victims of crime by helping them recover property and assets lost as a result of criminal activity.”
We aim to deprive criminals of their illicit profits… removing the financial incentive to launder money in Singapore
The report found that between January 2019 and June 2024, Singapore seized A$6 billion ($4.4 billion) linked to criminal activities and money laundering.
Of this amount, A$416 million has been returned to victims and A$1 billion has been confiscated to the state, the report found, while the overwhelming majority of the rest is linked to ongoing investigations or legal proceedings.
Last week, Singapore highlighted in a risk assessment report that its banking sector, including wealth management, poses the best money laundering risk amongst city-states.
An international financial center with a friendly tax system and perceived as a politically stable country, Singapore has long been a refuge for ultra-wealthy foreigners.
The city has seen a brand new influx of wealth since 2021 after becoming one among the primary Asian cities to significantly ease pandemic-related restrictions.
The variety of family offices or full-service high-net-worth portfolio management firms in town rose to about 1,400 last 12 months from 1,100 a 12 months earlier and about 700 at the tip of 2021, in keeping with government statistics.
