July 18, 2016
Singapore’s central bank is scrutinizing several banks, including UBS and DBS Group Holdings, to see if they broke anti-money laundering rules in handling transactions linked to Malaysian state fund 1MDB, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is looking at several aspects of the banks’ operations including whether they were diligent enough in knowing who their customers were and what the source of their funds was, and whether they were particularly careful in screening politically-exposed persons such as government officials, banking and legal sources aware of the review said. The probe could lead to fines and other penalties if lapses are found, said the sources who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. It is unclear which transactions by the banks are being examined.