Singapore issues environmental crimes money laundering national risk assessment
25 June 2024
On 29 May 2024, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) jointly announced the publication of the Environmental Crimes Money Laundering National Risk Assessment (“Environmental Crimes ML NRA”).
The Environmental Crimes ML NRA presents an overview of Singapore’s environmental crimes money laundering (“ML”) risk environment and identifies the key threats, vulnerabilities, controls, and areas of enhancements. The Environmental Crimes ML NRA complements Singapore’s broader ML risk assessments and aims to raise awareness among Singapore Government agencies, financial institutions (“FIs”) and designated non-financial businesses and professions (“DNFBPs”), of the specific environmental crimes ML risks that Singapore is exposed to. It serves as a guide for these groups to adopt a risk-focused approach when developing and implementing strategies, policies, and risk mitigation measures to address ML risks and illicit flows related to environmental crimes. In particular, the findings informed the Government’s review of relevant legislative frameworks.
The Environmental Crimes ML NRA assessed that:
- Singapore is susceptible to ML threats that emanate from illegal wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, and waste trafficking, which are prevalent in South-east Asia.
- In comparison to other sectors in Singapore, banks and cross-border payment service providers are most vulnerable to being misused to launder proceeds from environmental crimes, given their transnational nature.
- Singapore has a strong and transparent legal and enforcement framework to detect ML, and pursue ML investigations, prosecution, asset recovery and international cooperation, in relation to environmental crimes.
- Given the level of exposure and extent of controls, there is a medium-low risk of criminals using Singapore for environmental crimes ML.
FIs and DNFBPs should also take reference from the Environmental Crimes ML NRA in assessing their risks and enhance their controls as appropriate. Singapore’s law enforcement agencies and supervisory agencies will continue to take appropriate measures to mitigate the risks identified in the Environmental Crimes ML NRA.
Reference materials
The following materials are available from the MAS website www.mas.gov.sg: