Rather than having to impose hefty fines on a financial institution after a major incident or lapse in controls, we prefer that such incidents not happen in the first place. This means that we will not be apologetic about being intrusive and probing in our supervision work, and ML/FT risks will continue to be a key thematic area of focus. 15 The NRA exercise has noted that the controls adopted by banks are generally strong, but there is scope to strengthen the control processes especially in the areas of trade finance and correspondent banking. For example, during some of our inspections, we found that some banks did not screen all the key items in trade documents, and there were also inadequate controls when processing related party client transactions. We are looking to arrange roundtable sessions to share best practices in these two areas. 16 Apart from strengthening control frameworks and processes, the human factor is just as important. We have noted instances where banks have good systems and processes in place, but line departments did not implement the measures properly. Some of the common reasons include inadequate risk awareness, mis-communication across departments, and lack of management oversight. There is therefore a need to invest in the human capabilities, and not just rely on system capabilities in our AML/CFT efforts. 17 One of the more topical issues relating to supervision is that of tax crimes. Singapore designated serious tax crimes as money laundering predicate offences in the middle of last year.
Ong Chong Tee: Combating financial crime – international and national efforts Keynote address by Mr Ong Chong Tee, Deputy Managing Director (Financial Supervision) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the ABS Financial Crime Seminar, Singapore, 2 July 2014. *  *  *  1 Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me here this morning. The annual ABS Financial Crime Seminar has become a key event on Singapore’s antimoney laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) calendar. It is a good opportunity for our banking industry at large to take stock of the current challenges and trends, as well as to discuss priorities. As the diverse programme of this conference shows, money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) is a complex global issue, and I am heartened to see the number of experienced professionals and experts gathered here today to share perspectives and insights. The international environment 2 Financial crime is a serious global threat. According to some UN estimates, the amount of money laundered globally is between 2% and 5% of global GDP annually, or to put this in US dollar terms, between $ billion and $ trillion a year. The challenge before us – as is often noted – is that the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism is never done.