Due Diligence Checks on New Clients Opening Accounts to Prevent Mule Accounts for Scams
Prime Minister's OfficeSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Christopher de Souza’s inquiry on how the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ensures banks perform due diligence on new clients to prevent scam-related mule accounts. Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam responded that MAS requires banks to implement robust identification, risk evaluation, and monitoring processes to detect illicit fund flows. He highlighted the introduction of account-opening advisories warning applicants against misuse and the promotion of data analytics to enhance detection capabilities. The Minister also emphasized the importance of industry-wide sharing of emerging mule typologies to generate credible intelligence for law enforcement investigations. These combined efforts led to a July 2022 collaboration between the police and a bank that detected 26 individuals misusing bank accounts or Singpass credentials.
Transcript
1 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Prime Minister how does MAS ensure that banks do their due diligence and investigate and interview new clients who wish to open accounts so as to prevent mule accounts for scams.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) requires all banks operating in Singapore to put in place robust controls to detect and deter the flow of illicit funds, including the use of mule accounts for scam activities. These controls include rigorous processes to identify customers, understand the intended purpose of account opening, evaluate the risks posed, and monitor the accounts on an ongoing basis for suspicious activity.
Given the rise in the number and severity of scams in recent years, MAS and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) have worked with banks to incorporate an advisory to applicants at account opening. The advisory warns applicants that bank accounts should only be for their own use and that they may be facilitating criminal activities if they allow others to operate their accounts.
MAS has encouraged banks to use data analytics to improve their ability to detect mule activities, and has promoted the sharing of emerging mule typologies across the industry. These efforts have led to greater industry awareness and action, and contributed to credible intelligence being shared with law enforcement agencies for their investigations. For example, a collaboration in July 2022 between the SPF's Commercial Affairs Department and a bank led to the detection and investigation of 26 persons who allowed their bank accounts or Singpass credentials to be misused for illicit purposes.