Debated in Parliament on 2 Jul 2024.
Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Inter-Ministerial Committee established to review Singapore's anti-money laundering regime will consider and study how potential offenders calculate (i) their own potential probability of being caught, (ii) the range of existing sentencing precedents, when proposing any tightening of regulations and enforcements to prevent exploitation by criminals; and (b) whether the Committee will consider recommending the enhancement of detection, investigation and sentencing to safeguard Singapore's stature as a respected financial centre.
In the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) review, the IMC will indeed consider the increasingly sophisticated ways by which criminals may seek to exploit our systems and make recommendations to ensure that our anti-money laundering regime remains effective in preventing, detecting and enforcing against such. The IMC will share its full findings and recommendations in the fourth quarter of this year. As for the adequacy of the penalties prescribed in the law, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regularly reviews such, the last time being just recently in 2023.
Dr Tan Wu Meng.
I thank the Minister of State for her answer and I have got a further supplementary question on this topic. Will the IMC in its deliberations also look at whether there is an increasing nexus of money laundering with organised crime, including organised cybercrime?
I raise this because there were media reports of a foreign national arrested in Singapore, following an extradition request. It was reported in the media that this foreign national faced charges, not just of money laundering, but also running a large-scale malware and botnet, relating to cybercrime.
And if there is an emerging nexus between money laundering and organised crime and other forms of crime, including cybercrime, will the IMC look at applying the full force of Singapore's policy levers, including the ones we apply to organised crime, today?
I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Indeed, money laundering and the methods employed by money launderers have become increasingly sophisticated. They undertake multiple layering processes to hide their tracks.
And obviously, with greater digitalisation, different categories of assets, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between legitimate and illicit fund flows. Earlier in my response, I had mentioned that we are taking a whole-of-Government approach to strengthen our monitoring and sense-making capabilities. This would include looking into areas of cybercrime. So, I hope that helps address the Member's question.
Mr Pritam Singh.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just a question for the Minister of State. Lately, over the last two years, in particular, there has been a term that is floating in the media lexicon – "Singapore-washing".
Can I confirm whether the IMC will also be looking at the various permutations and aspects of some of the claims made by individuals and media organisations worldwide about how Singapore is potentially used as a conduit for such money laundering?
I thank the Member for his question. Indeed, the IMC is undertaking rigorous work to ensure that corporate structures in Singapore are not being abused by money launderers.
Secondly, we are also working closely with our financial institutions to make sure that they enhance their controls, they do their due diligence on their customers' backgrounds to be able to identify the sources of their funds.
I also earlier mentioned other gatekeepers in the system, such as real estate agents, lawyers, precious stones and metals' dealers and corporate service providers.
All these actions would help us better guard against potential money launderers trying to launder their monies through Singapore's ecosystem.
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