Commencement of Precious Stones and Precious Metals Dealers (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act on 10 April 2019

8 Apr 2019 Posted in Press releases

1. The Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act (PSPM Act) was passed by Parliament on 11 February 2019. The PSPM Act introduces a supervisory and regulatory regime for precious stones and precious metals dealers to level up anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standards in the sector. The new regime will come into force on 10 April 2019. It will enhance the effectiveness of Singapore’s AML/CFT regime, combat crime and improve security, both domestically and globally.

Registration of Regulated Dealers

2. Regulated dealers must register with the Registrar of Regulated Dealers in order to carry on a business of dealing in precious stones, precious metals or precious products, unless they are excluded or exempted.

3. Regulated dealers include intermediaries, such as auction houses and trading platforms. Pawnbrokers, which are already subject to AML/CFT provisions under the Pawnbrokers Act, are excluded from the PSPM Act. Further, MAS-regulated financial institutions will be exempted from the PSPM Act (except for the cash transaction reporting requirement). They are instead subject to MAS’ AML/CFT regulations, when they deal in precious stones, precious metals and precious products.

4. Registration will commence on 10 April 2019. Regulated dealers must obtain a Certificate of Registration within six months, by 9 October 2019. After this date, it will be an offence to act as or hold out to be a regulated dealer without being registered. Regulated dealers who submit their application by 31 May 2019 will enjoy a lower application fee of SGD 70 as an incentive for early registration. Please refer to Annex A for more information on the registration process.

AML/CFT Measures

5. Regulated dealers, unless exempted, will be required to comply with:
   1. Transaction-based requirements, including filing cash transaction reports; filing suspicious transaction reports; performing customer due diligence (CDD) measures; and keeping records of transactions for which CDD measures are performed and information obtained through CDD measures; and
   2. Entity-based requirements, including conducting ML/TF risk assessments of its customers and transactions; and putting in place internal policies, procedures and controls to mitigate these risks, amongst other requirements.

Engagement and Outreach

6. The regime was developed in partnership with the precious stones and precious metals dealers sector. From 13 September to 12 October 2018, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) conducted a public consultation. MinLaw has also been engaging the respective industry associations, such as the Singapore Bullion Market Association, the Singapore Pawnbrokers’ Association, the Singapore Jewellers Association and the Diamond Exchange of Singapore, to ensure that regulated dealers are well-placed to comply with the requirements in the PSPM Act. Going forward, MinLaw will partner with them to organise onboarding conferences and workshops to raise AML/CFT awareness in the sector and educate regulated dealers on how they can comply with the requirements under the regime.

7. For more information on the PSPM Act and for updates on the onboarding conferences and workshops, please refer to: https://acd.mlaw.gov.sg

Annex A

Brochure on Registration of Precious Stones and Precious Metals Dealers (PSMD)(0.2MB)

Last updated on 08 Apr 2019