The Financial Authority of Singapore (MAS) has this week introduced ‘COSMIC’, billed as the first ‘centralised digital platform’ to aid sharing of buyer information between financial establishments to combat dollars laundering, terrorism funding (TF) and proliferation financing globally.
The title of the system – which has been co-developed by MAS and 6 major commercial banks – stands for ‘COllaborative Sharing of Money Laundering /TF Information and facts & Cases’. It permits information and facts to be shared amid professional financial institutions in a structured format that ought to allow for for seamless integration with facts analytics instruments globally. Its introduction is a significant alter that associated the generation of safeguards made to make sure that sharing happens only where by warranted and that regulation-abiding customers’ interests are protected. Confidentiality obligations had earlier prevented banking companies from notifying every other about strange consumer exercise.
The Fiscal Products and services and Marketplaces (Modification) Act 2023 and accompanying subsidiary laws, which set out the lawful basis and info-sharing safeguards, is now in power.
The platform has been co-created by MAS and Citibank, DBS, HSBC, OCBC, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB. The 6 professional banking institutions will all participate on COSMIC ‘during its preliminary phase’, according to MAS’s COSMIC announcement.
“COSMIC will enable economical institutions to warn every single other of suspicious things to do and make much more informed hazard assessments on a well timed foundation,” reported MAS assistant controlling director (coverage, payments and economical crime) Loo Siew Yee. “It complements the industry’s existing close collaboration with MAS and legislation enforcement authorities to beat fiscal criminal offense. This will strengthen Singapore’s capabilities to uphold our name as a very well-regulated and trustworthy financial centre.”
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‘Red flags’ to bring about info-sharing
MAS experienced at first prepared to start COSMIC all through 2023. But the launch day was revised to the 2nd fifty percent of this 12 months to allow for the task team more time to develop the platform and set in place the necessary legislative instruments. Due to the fact then, development has been relatively clean, which has enabled the go-in advance this thirty day period (April 2024).
Following general public consultation in Oct 2021, the Monetary Companies and Markets Act 2022 (FSMA) was amended in May well 2023 to set out the legislative framework for COSMIC.
A COSMIC participant bank may share shopper details with yet another participant financial institution only if the customer’s profile or behaviour displays particular objectively-described indicators of suspicion, or ‘red flags’, MAS states.
‘The FSMA involves participant monetary establishments [FIs] to have in area policies and operational safeguards to guard the confidentiality of facts shared,’ MAS points out. ‘This will let participant FIs to share details on opportunity prison behaviour though safeguarding the interests of the vast greater part of buyers who are reputable. Customers are encouraged to continue to present timely responses if requested by FIs to offer clarifications on their hazard profiles or transactions, so that FIs can make knowledgeable risk assessments.’
Proliferation funding refers to the raising, relocating or building out there of financing, funds, property or other financial assets to men and women or entities to support the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which include the proliferation of their implies of supply or similar resources.
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‘High-danger actors and webs of anomalous activities’
Singapore is an active member of the Financial Action Undertaking Force (FATF), the international normal-location and oversight overall body for anti-funds laundering (AML)/countering the financing of terrorism (CFT). As co-chair of its Plan Advancement Group, it collaborates carefully with fellow AML/CFT policymakers and supervisors to acquire intercontinental criteria.
COSMIC itself has previously attracted the attention of community servants outside the house Singapore with an desire in tackling revenue-laundering and monetary crime. Its development, for instance, was referenced by through a panel session that includes a few United kingdom-based mostly speakers on the matter of ‘Financial crime, fraud and payment scams’ at the ‘Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit’ in London on 25 January.
Attempts to tackle economical criminal offense in Singapore were also highlighted by Australia’s assistant treasurer and minister for economical expert services, Stephen Jones, through a United kingdom government-hosted ‘Global Fraud Summit’ (11-12 March).
In a speech in 2021, MAS’s then-controlling director Ravi Menon described COSMIC as a ‘platform for info sharing and assessment [that] will deliver a rich and dynamic information pool of large-hazard actors and their webs of anomalous activities’. He explained it would ‘enable seamless knowledge exchange with economical institutions’ possess facts analytics devices so that they can properly identify and disrupt prison networks sprawling throughout multiple financial institutions.’
It was announded in September previous yr that Menon would be retiring from the Singapore public support at the conclusion of 2023. It was announced very last 7 days that he has been appointed as the metropolis-state’s initially ambassador for local climate motion and senior adviser at its Countrywide Weather Modify Secretariat (NCCS).
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