Interview: CNA Explains: What is money laundering and why does it involve luxury cars, watches and bags? (Aug 2023)

Athreya H. D., financial services partner at audit and advisory firm Mazars, said that given how crimes are constantly evolving, the Singapore government has been working to ensure that adequate controls are in place and its policies are updated.

“So while money laundering is picking up, so is the government trying to stay abreast of the evolving regulatory requirements to be one step ahead,” he told CNA.

But more can be done, he said. 

Mr Athreya noted the public-private partnerships like the COSMIC platform, and said that more stringent rules can be extended beyond the financial industry to other sectors, such as high-end retailers.

“Generally, high cash-value transactions in luxury goods are a common way people try to launder money because these transactions involve cash and also don't involve a lot of due diligence checks,” said Mr Athreya.

Retailers of luxury goods can be required to step up their due diligence by implementing certain limits when high-value transactions are carried out in cash. Retailers can also be asked to note down the details of these customers.

“(These details) can eventually feed back into a database to identify customers and patterns in financial crimes,” Mr Athreya said.

For the real estate sector, the introduction of fresh regulations suggests that authorities are working to close the gap, he said.

Further stringent checks, such as determining a customer’s source of funds and verifying the "real beneficiary" of the transaction, should be enforced before a transaction is carried out, said Mr Athreya.

Read the article here on CNA.