Measures to Detect Ownership of Movement of Foreign Shares to Foreigners with Securities Accounts in Singapore

1 Mr Don Wee asked the Prime Minister whether MAS requires SGX to have measures to detect ownership movements of foreign shares to foreigners who have securities accounts in Singapore and the encashment of the securities shortly after the shares are transferred to securities firms in Singapore.

Mr Lawrence Wong (for the Prime Minister): The Singapore Exchange (SGX)'s Central Depository (CDP) is the depository only for shares that are traded on SGX. CDP does not deal with shares of foreign companies that are traded on foreign venues.

All customers who wish to trade in shares will need to open a trading account with a securities broker. Securities brokers are required to put in place robust anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism measures. This includes conducting customer due diligence, such as verifying the identity of their customers and establishing the sources of wealth and funds of higher-risk customers, undertaking ongoing monitoring of customer accounts to effectively detect suspicious customer transactions or activities, and reporting these to the authorities in a timely manner.