Singapore is National Asset Recovery Strategy Today, it aims to fight illicit finances by recovering funds and assets from criminals and either returning them to victims or forfeiting them to the state.
Lawrence Wong
Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong announced the strategy at a plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force, underscoring Singapore’s determination to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) efforts.
The strategy addresses increasingly sophisticated global money laundering, and highlights Singapore’s role in tackling international cases involving complex methods of concealing illicit funds.
Since January 2019, Singapore has seized S$6 billion linked to criminal activity, of which S$416 million has been returned to victims and S$1 billion has been forfeited to the state and is currently under investigation.
Key pillars of the strategy include detecting and tracing illicit funds, swift seizure and confiscation to prevent criminals from profiting, and maximizing asset recoveries to compensate victims.
Singapore’s National Asset Recovery Strategy focuses on four pillars:
Singapore values collaboration with international partners, community stakeholders and the private sector to strengthen asset recovery efforts and prevent financial crime.
The island nation’s proactive measures, which include its anti-fraud unit issuing warnings to bank customers, have thwarted more than 3,000 cases of fraud and prevented losses of over S$100 million.
The strategy is part of ongoing efforts to adapt and strengthen AML/CFT countermeasures to counter evolving criminal tactics, ensuring Singapore remains vigilant in the fight against financial crime.
