MAS issues its latest Enforcement Report
The goals of MAS’ enforcement approach
MAS’ enforcement approach has three aims:
- early detection of misconduct and breaches of laws
- effective deterrence
- shaping business and market conduct.
Enforcement report overview
The latest report covers enforcement actions taken against financial institutions and individuals for market abuse, financial services misconduct and money laundering related offences.
The report highlights the following:
- high-profile actions against four financial institutions in relation to their dealings with Wirecard-linked persons, as well as against Noble Group Limited and individuals relating to Three Arrows Capital
- $7.1 million in composition penalties for anti-money laundering related breaches
- $12.96 million in civil penalties for market abuse cases
- 18 prohibition orders issued against unfit representatives
- 39 criminal convictions of individuals involved in market misconduct and related offences
- 7 Reprimands, 112 Warnings, 49 Letters of Advice and 287 Supervisory reminders.
MAS’ executive director emphasizes strong enforcement
Ms Peggy Pao, Executive Director (Enforcement), MAS, commented, “MAS has taken strong enforcement actions and deepened relationships with our partners to uphold the integrity and reputation of Singapore as a trusted financial centre. Even as the novelty and complexity of our cases increase, we will continue to administer an effective and fair enforcement regime in order to deter misconduct, protect consumers and maintain investor confidence.”
Enforcement priorities
MAS’ enforcement priorities for 2023 and 2024 include the following:
- enhancing capabilities to tackle misconduct in the digital asset ecosystem, including by working with foreign regulators and law enforcement agencies to obtain and share information on errant entities and individuals
- continued focus on asset and wealth managers’ compliance with the applicable laws and regulations, particularly business conduct and AML/CFT requirements and holding senior management accountable for their FI’s lapses, where appropriate.
MAS enforcement activities and collaborative investigations
The report includes new features to provide more granular disclosure of MAS’ enforcement activities and more comprehensive coverage of the combined investigation efforts of MAS and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in tackling offences under the Securities and Futures Act and the Financial Advisers Act, including:
- statistics on cases opened for review and investigation during the reporting period, broken down by offence types
- more details on enforcement outcomes in terms of offence types.
If you would like to read the Enforcement Report in full, you can access it here.
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