Singapore, HK Banks Top for Asian Hot Money Flows, ICIJ Says
Year-long investigation finds reputable banks deep into suspicious bank transactions
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By: Toh Han Shih
Singapore is the top Asian hub for suspicious financial transactions, followed by Hong Kong, according to a trove of data from the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on September 20.
The ICIJ’s year-long investigation was based on more than 2,100 secretive reports filed by banks to the US Treasury Department, according to the investigative organization, “and revealed trillions in tainted dollars freely flowing through the financial system. ICIJ’s year-long investigation shows that five global banks — JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon – kept profiting from powerful and dangerous players even after US authorities fined these institutions for earlier failures to stem flows of dirty money.”
Globally, Singapore ranks fifth in suspicious transactions totaling US$4.42 billion, followed closely by Hong Kong in sixth place with US$4.08 billion. The four jurisdictions with the world’s most suspicious financial transactions are in Europe, namely Russia, Switzerland, Netherlands and the UK in descending order. Russia ranks first with US$10.78 billion of suspicious transactions, Switzerland second with US$7.93 billion, Netherlands third with US$6.78 billion and the UK fourth with US$5.92 billion.
“MAS is aware that Singapore banks were mentioned in media reports on suspicious transaction reports filed with FinCEN,” a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) spokesperson said. “Although suspicious transaction reports in and of themselves do not imply that the transactions are illicit, MAS takes such reports very seriously. MAS is closely studying the information in these media reports, and will take appropriate action based on the outcome of our review. Singapore’s regulatory framework to combat money laundering meets international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force.”