Singapore’s Watchdog Cracks Down on Payment Firms Over Lax Money Laundering Defenses

Key Takeaways

• MAS Fines Total $710,000 (S$960,000): Five major payment institutions were penalized for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements.
• Largest Penalty Goes to Remsea: Remsea was fined $207,000 (S$280,000) for multiple failures including missing beneficial owner checks and wire transfer data.
• Common Failures Across Firms: Infractions included poor customer due diligence, failure to screen for ML/TF risks, and missing information in cross-border transactions.
• Senior Management Under Scrutiny: MAS expects leadership to take accountability for compliance, not just delegate it.
• Industry Guidance on the Way: MAS will release an information paper outlining common weaknesses and supervisory expectations following its inspections.

Deep Dive

Five payment firms in Singapore just learned a costly lesson about weak anti-money laundering controls and why it won’t fly under the radar. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued $710,000 (S$960,000) in composition penalties after uncovering serious compliance failures across five licensed payment institutions. The firms (Remsea, Arcade Plaza Traders, J-Dee Remittance, Mobile Community Tech, and OxPay SG) were found to have fallen short of core safeguards meant to prevent financial crime.

While each case had its own set of issues, the broader picture tells a familiar story: poor customer due diligence, lapses in screening for money laundering and terrorist financing risks, and missing information in cross-border transactions, the very gaps that criminals love to exploit.

Remsea took the largest hit, fined $207,000 (S$280,000) for a host of failures between 2020 and 2023, including skipping checks on beneficial owners and neglecting to include sender info in wire transfers.

Arcade Plaza Traders wasn’t far behind, with a $192,000 (S$260,000) penalty. The firm failed to screen customers and their associates against ML/TF watchlists and sent funds abroad without the required sender information. Meanwhile, J-Dee Remittance was fined $126,000 (S$170,000) for similar issues, largely involving a lack of proper screening.

Mobile Community Tech was also penalized $104,000 (S$140,000) after MAS found it had failed to verify identities or the authority of individuals acting on behalf of clients, while also omitting beneficiary info in transfers. OxPay SG received the smallest fine, $81,000 (S$110,000), but still failed to identify beneficial owners and didn’t screen customers before executing cross-border transfers.

More Than Just a Slap on the Wrist

MAS didn’t mince words. These failures exposed the institutions to serious risk of being used as channels for illicit finance. And while the firms have committed to fixing the problems, the regulator made clear that senior management is expected to step up, not just delegate compliance, but actively own it.

As part of its broader response, MAS will be issuing an industry-wide information paper in the months ahead, sharing findings from its inspections and setting out expectations for improvement.

This latest round of enforcement actions adds to a growing list of reminders from MAS that compliance isn’t optional, and that the speed of digital financial services can’t come at the expense of accountability. As Singapore continues to position itself as a trusted global financial hub, if you're handling cross-border flows, you need to do it with both speed and scrutiny.

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