Wirecard, a Germany-based payments processing firm that is now insolvent, had significant operations in Singapore. Its former CEO Markus Braun is now on trial in Germany for offences including fraud, market manipulation and false accounting.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed composition penalties amounting to $3.8 million on Citibank Singapore, DBS Bank (SGX:D05
) and OCBC (SGX:O39) Singapore, as well as insurer Swiss Life (Singapore), for breaches of the central bank’s anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.
The breaches were identified during MAS’ investigation of the alleged involvement of Singapore-based individuals and entities in the Wirecard scandal. MAS says it is unable to comment on whether its investigations into control deficiencies present in financial institutions named in the media in relation to Wirecard's fraud revealed any illicit fund flows, which remains within the remit of the Singapore Police Force's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).
