The Private Banking Industry Group (PBIG) in Singapore has denied a report by the Financial Times that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has issued a directive to banks, tacit or otherwise, not to discuss origins of wealth flows into Singapore.
According to the FT report on April 14, the flows from China into Singapore has become a politically sensitive issue. “MAS wants banks to keep public discussion of the phenomenon to a minimum, according to the FT report, which cited three people with knowledge of the talks.
“China was not mentioned by name, but it was clear regulators were referring to the country,” the FT report goes.
The FT quoted an unnamed “banker from an international bank” saying: “It was obvious that they [the MAS] were referring to China with all the press about family offices setting up here and mainlanders moving over, though they didn’t single out a particular country.”
The PBIG, made up of key private banking players here, is now co-chaired by MAS and UBS.
At its most recent meeting on 20 February 2023, the PBIG noted that while public commentary tended to focus on fund flows from China into Singapore, the sources of overall inflows into Singapore in fact remain diversified.
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The increased fund flows into Singapore were from high net-worth individuals from different markets.
The meeting agreed that, in the face of increased fund flows into Singapore, it was important to maintain robust risk management controls to safeguard against money laundering and terrorism financing risks.
The meeting also discussed how to facilitate the deployment of wealth to purposeful causes, given the growing interest from family offices in philanthropy and other activities that will benefit Singapore and the region.
