On 6 August 2024, the Anti-Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill (“AML Bill“) was introduced for Second Reading in Parliament and was passed. The AML Bill will: (a) Enhance the ability of law enforcement agencies (“LEAs“) to pursue and prosecute money laundering (“ML“) offences: - Facilitate the prosecution of money mules for ML where the monies laundered had passed through bank accounts/intermediaries in foreign jurisdictions before entering Singapore. It will suffice to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the money launderer knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that he was dealing with criminal proceeds; the direct link between the criminal conduct and monies allegedly laundered in Singapore need not be shown.
- Designate serious foreign environmental crimes as ML predicate offences. This allows LEAs to investigate ML offences if it is suspected that the monies in Singapore are derived from such crimes committed overseas.
- Enhance the authorities’ abilities to detect ML, terrorism financing (“TF”) and proliferation financing (“PF”) by allowing government agencies to share tax and trade data and allowing Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AML/CFT“) regulators access to suspicious transaction reports filed by regulated entities.
(b) Clarify and improve processes to deal with seized or restrained properties (“SRPs“) linked to suspected criminal activities: - Allow the court-ordered sale of SRPs linked to suspected criminal activities under certain conditions. This allows LEAs to reduce the cost of property maintenance and preserve the value of SRPs, to enhance subsequent asset recovery and restitution to victims.
- Clarify the processes for dealing with properties linked to persons suspected of having committed offences under Singapore’s laws and cannot be found. This will prevent: (i) the premature release of such properties while investigations are ongoing; and (ii) a situation where an absconded person evades investigations by staying outside Singapore and makes a successful claim to such properties because investigations have not been able to proceed.
(c) Align the AML/CFT framework for casino operators with Financial Action Task Force (“FATF“) standards: - Tighten requirements for casino operators to conduct customer due diligence checks for detection and prevention of ML/TF/PF, require them to consider PF risks when conducting such checks, empower authorities to issue regulations requiring them to detect or prevent PF, and lower the quantum for when such checks are required.
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