The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today launched a public consultation on a revised framework to strengthen surveillance and defence against money laundering (ML) risks in Singapore’s Single Family Office (SFO) sector. The revised framework will introduce a harmonised class exemption for SFOs with specific requirements to ensure that all SFOs are subject to anti-money laundering controls.
2 Currently, as SFOs do not manage third-party assets, they can either rely on existing class exemptions from licensing requirements under the Securities and Futures Act or apply to MAS for case-by-case exemptions. To strengthen surveillance and defence against ML risks in the SFO sector, MAS proposes to harmonise the exemption criteria for all SFOs operating in Singapore.
3 Specifically, to qualify for the class exemption, SFOs must:
- be incorporated in Singapore;
- notify MAS and confirm that it is in compliance with the qualifying criteria under the class exemption when they commence operations in Singapore;
- report annually on total assets managed after the end of each calendar year; and
- maintain a business relationship with an MAS-regulated financial institution that will perform anti-money laundering checks on these SFOs.
These measures will allow MAS to better monitor SFOs operating in Singapore and address any ML risks in the sector.
4 Interested parties are invited to submit their comments here by 30 September 2023.
