Singapore Fines Credit Suisse and Local Bank in 1MDB Inquiry

By P.R. Venkat and Jake Maxwell Watts 

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's financial regulator imposed fines on Swiss bank Credit Suisse AG and a local bank for antimoney-laundering control failures connected with an investigation into alleged misappropriation from Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said Tuesday it had fined Credit Suisse S$700,000 (US$504,613) and United Overseas Bank Ltd. S$900,000, after it found several breaches of regulations and inadequate scrutiny of customers' transactions and activities.

In addition, the central bank and regulator said it had issued financial sector bans on three individuals and served advance notice on three others of its intention to ban them, too.

The fines were imposed on the two banks at the conclusion of a two-year review into the role of Singapore's financial institutions related to 1MDB, or 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Singapore is one of several countries around the world, including the U.S., probing the fund's activities.

During its extensive review, MAS has shut two foreign private banks and fined six others in addition to UOB and Credit Suisse for various breaches of antimoney-laundering regulations. It has fined banks operating in Singapore a combined S$29.1 million for their roles in handling 1MDB-related fund flows.

The private banks that have been shut down are BSI Bank and Falcon Bank, while banks like UBS AG, Standard Chartered Bank PLC, and DBS Group Holdings had financial penalties imposed against them.

1MDB has denied wrongdoing. In a statement, Credit Suisse said that it acknowledges the outcome of the review and regrets that it has fallen short of MAS and the bank's own high standards.

UOB said it accepts the findings by the MAS and that it has instituted measures to address the areas of concern, including enhancing its training program to raise risk-and- control awareness among staff.

MAS said in a statement its review of financial institutions in Singapore, where hundreds of millions of dollars connected to alleged misappropriations from 1MDB flowed, is the most extensive it has ever undertaken. While it did not find pervasive control weaknesses at Credit Suisse and UOB, MAS said the two banks had breached regulations several times.

Write to P.R. Venkat at [e-mail] and Jake Maxwell Watts at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 29, 2017 22:54 ET (02:54 GMT)

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