By Megan Cheah and Amanda Lee

SINGAPORE--Singapore's central bank has imposed more than US$20 million in penalties on nine financial institutions, including major international banks, for what it said were breaches of anti-money-laundering rules.

The Singapore branches of Credit Suisse, UBS and Julius Baer are among those being penalized, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement Friday announcing the composition penalties of 27.45 million Singapore dollars, equivalent to US$21.5 million.

The infractions came to light during the central bank's inspection of financial institutions linked to a major money-laundering scandal that rocked the city-state in August 2023, it said.

During the 2023 scandal, local authorities seized or froze more than S$3 billion in assets, including property, gold bars and jewelry.

MAS said its inspections--which ran from early 2023 to early this year--found that most institutions had established anti-money-laundering policies, but that regulatory breaches "arose out of poor or inconsistent implementation."

The penalties considered factors such as the financial institutions' exposure to individuals in the 2023 case and weakness in the anti-money-laundering controls.

Credit Suisse Singapore received the highest penalty of S$5.8 million, which MAS said took into account anti-money-laundering breaches related to another case involving accounts maintained by the bank on behalf of U.S. customers.

MAS also penalized UBS Singapore S$3.0 million.

"We have cooperated fully with the authorities to resolve this issue and will continue to work together closely to safeguard Singapore's financial industry," a UBS spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for United Overseas Bank, which received a penalty of S$5.6 million, said the bank has taken action to address the deficiencies identified, including stepping up transaction monitoring.

"We have conducted a thorough assessment of the facts and circumstances surrounding the issues and staff involved, and taken appropriate actions to address accountability and discipline," the spokesperson said.

Two Citi entities--Citibank N.A. Singapore and Citibank Singapore--were collectively handed penalties of S$2.6 million.

A spokesperson for Citi Singapore said the bank is committed to "ensuring the highest standard of governance and controls to detect and prevent money laundering." It said it has strengthened client onboarding and continues to work closely with the authorities.

Julius Baer and private bank LGT Bank were slapped with penalties of S$2.4 million and S$1 million, respectively.

A Julius Baer spokesperson said it has taken concrete steps to strengthen its processes and anti-money-laundering framework.

A spokesperson for LGT said that it remains strongly committed to fighting money laundering and "safeguarding the integrity of Singapore's financial system."

MAS said it will monitor the financial institutions' efforts to remedy the issues.

Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com and Amanda Lee at amanda.lee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 04, 2025 06:29 ET (10:29 GMT)

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