Singapore Launches Law Enforcement Strategy to Tackle Money Laundering

The strategy identifies 4 focus areas and 10 key actions to ensure that law enforcement agencies remain at the forefront of AML efforts.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF), Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) have published a new Law Enforcement Strategy to Combat Money Laundering.

The new strategy document refreshes and replaces SPF’s AML Policy Statement and Strategies 2016. It supports the National AML Strategy, which was published earlier this week.

In a statement, the law enforcement agencies said the new strategy document emphasises their shared commitment to combat money laundering (ML) and addresses the key threats identified in the 2024 ML National Risk Assessment (NRA).

Singapore adopts a holistic approach to AML, engaging government agencies, public-private partnerships, and international collaboration, with a focus on the three pillars of prevention, detection, and enforcement.

“The SPF, CNB, and CPIB play a significant role in all three pillars,” the statement said.

Law enforcement agencies have made “major progress” on the six strategies outlined in the 2016 policy. This updated document identifies four Focus Areas and 10 Key Actions to ensure that agencies remain at the forefront of AML efforts.

These are:

Focus Area 1: Whole-of-society outreach & awareness of key ML threats

• Engage society to deter ML activities

• Share emerging risks observed with other public agencies for stronger supervision and regulatory enforcement

  
  

Focus Area 2: Better sensemaking across public and private stakeholders

• Enhance the analysis and use of financial intelligence to detect ML

• Promote interagency and public-private information flows and collaboration

  
  

Focus Area 3: Enhance investigative capability for key ML threats

• Ensure AML laws remain up-to-date and dissuasive

• Build on platforms with other competent authorities and international counterparts to detect and investigate ML

• Leverage digitalisation and technology for more effective investigative tools

  
  

Focus Area 4: Strengthen asset recovery capabilities

• Continue to pursue criminal assets moved into and out of Singapore

• Strengthen capabilities in tracing and recovering virtual assets

• Ensure strict enforcement of the cross-border cash reporting regime

A copy of the strategy can be accessed here.