Public Consultation on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Regulatory Regime For Precious Stones and Metals Dealers

13 SEP 2018

13 Sep 2018 Posted in Press releases

  1. The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) invites the public to provide feedback on the new anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulatory regime for precious stones and metals dealers (PSMD) in Singapore. The public consultation will run for one month, from 13 September 2018 to 12 October 2018.

  2. Precious stones and metals are portable, valuable, and easily convertible to cash. This exposes the PSMD sector to inherent money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

  3. Currently, PSMDs are not subject to AML/CFT supervision or requirements beyond the Cash Transaction Reporting regime[1] introduced in 2014. The new regime will close these gaps, mitigate ML/TF risks, and level up AML/CFT standards and increase trust in the sector. This will enhance the effectiveness of Singapore’s AML/CFT regime, combat crime and improve security, not only domestically but also globally.

Proposed Regulatory Regime

  1. The proposed regime is outlined in the public consultation paper, with details on:
  1. PSMDs covered under the regime. The definition of a dealer, and precious stones, metals, and products, will be as stipulated in the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Cash Transaction Reports) Regulations. Pawnbrokers and foreign PSMDs, will be exempted from certain requirements under the regime;
  2. Registration. All PSMDs, except Pawnbrokers and foreign PSMDs, are required to register with MinLaw; and
  3. AML/CFT requirements. PSMDs will be required to perform Customer Due Diligence[2] (CDD), keep relevant transaction and CDD records, file Suspicious Transactions Reports and Cash Transactions Reports, conduct internal ML/TF risk assessments, and introduce internal policies, procedures and controls to address ML/TF risks.
  1. In developing the regulatory framework, MinLaw had conducted an industry survey and held informal discussions with industry stakeholders, including industry associations, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. MinLaw has also studied the Financial Action Task Force’s requirements and global best practices for AML/CFT regulation.
  1. MinLaw will conduct outreach and engagement sessions to help PSMDs understand the requirements of the new regime, manage compliance costs, and identify and address potential difficulties the sector might face in meeting the requirements under the new regime.
  1. The full public consultation paper may be viewed online at https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/content/minlaw/en/news/public-consultations.html.

Invitation for feedback

  1. Members of the public are invited to submit their views by 12 October 2018. They may submit feedback via email or in hard copy to the following address:

Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Division

Ministry of Law

45 Maxwell Road

URA East Wing, #07-11

Singapore 069118

Email: MLAW_Consultation@mlaw.gov.sg

[1]The legal requirements were enacted under Part VIB of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act and the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Cash Transaction Reports) Regulations 2014.
[2]Customer Due Diligence (CDD) is the process intended to enable a PSMD to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of each customer.

Last updated on 13 Sep 2018