MAS to Strengthen Surveillance and Defence Against Money Laundering Risks in Single Family Offices

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today launched a public consultation on a revised framework to strengthen surveillance and defence against money laundering (ML) risks in Singapore's Single Family Office (SFO) sector. The revised framework will introduce a harmonised class exemption for SFOs with specific requirements to ensure that all SFOs are subject to anti-money laundering controls.

Currently, as SFOs do not manage third-party assets, they can either rely on existing class exemptions from licensing requirements under the Securities and Futures Act or apply to MAS for case-by-case exemptions. To strengthen surveillance and defence against ML risks in the SFO sector, MAS proposes to harmonise the exemption criteria for all SFOs operating in Singapore.

Specifically, to qualify for the class exemption, SFOs must:

• be incorporated in Singapore;

• notify MAS and confirm that it is in compliance with the qualifying criteria under the class exemption when they commence operations in Singapore;

• report annually on total assets managed after the end of each calendar year; and

• maintain a business relationship with an MAS-regulated financial institution that will perform anti-money laundering checks on these SFOs.

The regulator said: "These measures will allow MAS to better monitor SFOs operating in Singapore and address any ML risks in the sector."