Singapore, 27 June 2025… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed composition penalties amounting to S$960,000 in total on five Major Payment Institutions (MPIs), which are licensed to provide cross-border money transfer services, for breaches of MAS’ Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements.
The breaches were identified during MAS’ examinations of the MPIs’ compliance with the requirements of MAS Notice PSN01 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism – Specified Payment Services. The MPIs were found to have inadequate AML/CFT controls in place, resulting in multiple breaches of AML/CFT requirements. The composition penalties, which vary depending on the nature and extent of the breaches, are as follows.
Remsea Pte Ltd (Remsea)
A composition penalty of S$280,000 was imposed on Remsea for breaches which took place between August 2020 to August 2023. The breaches uncovered during MAS’ examination included:
a) Failure to obtain the residential address of its customers;
b) Failure to inquire if there existed any beneficial owner (BO) in relation to its customers;
c) Failure to verify the due authority of natural person appointed to act on behalf of customers by obtaining appropriate documentary evidence; and
d) Failure to include wire transfer originator information in the message or payment instructions for cross-border wire transfers, as the ordering institution.
Arcade Plaza Traders Pte Ltd (APT)
A composition penalty of S$260,000 was imposed on APT for breaches which took place between March 2020 to August 2023. The breaches uncovered during MAS’ examination included:
a) Failure to screen customers, connected parties and BOs of customers against relevant ML/TF information sources for the purposes of determining if there were any ML/TF risks when establishing business relations with the customers; and
b) Failure to include wire transfer originator information in the message or payment instructions for cross-border wire transfers, as the ordering institution.
J-Dee Remittance Services Pte Ltd (J-Dee)
A composition penalty of S$170,000 was imposed on J-Dee for breaches which took place between July 2022 to August 2023. The breaches uncovered during MAS’ examination included the failure to screen multiple customers, connected parties and BOs of customers against relevant ML/TF information sources for the purposes of determining if there were any ML/TF risks when establishing business relations with the customers.
Mobile Community Tech Pte Ltd (MCT)
A composition penalty of S$140,000 was imposed on MCT for breaches which took place between September 2021 to July 2023. The breaches uncovered during MAS’ examination included:
a) Failure to verify the identity of customers using reliable, independent source data, documents or information;
b) Failure to verify the due authority of natural person appointed to act on behalf of customers by obtaining appropriate documentary evidence; and
c) Failure to include wire transfer beneficiary information in the message or payment instructions for cross-border wire transfers, as the ordering institution.
OxPay SG Pte Ltd (OxPay)
A composition penalty of $110,000 was imposed on OxPay for breaches which took place between May 2021 to November 2022. The breaches uncovered during MAS’ examination included:
a) Failure to inquire if there existed any BO in relation to its customers; and
b) Failure to screen its customer and BOs of its customer against relevant ML/TF information sources for the purposes of determining if there were any ML/TF risks before undertaking cross-border money transfer transactions for the customer;
Overall, the breaches exposed the MPIs to the risk of being used as a conduit for financial crime. The failure to conduct adequate customer due diligence measures impedes MPIs’ ability to properly assess and mitigate the ML/TF risks associated with its customers. Additionally, the failure to provide information relating to wire transfer originators and wire transfer beneficiaries of cross-border wire transfers undermines the transparency and traceability of the movement of funds.
To provide further guidance to the industry, MAS will be publishing an information paper to set out common issues noted, MAS’ supervisory expectations, and areas for improvement uncovered from MAS’ recent examinations of MPIs.
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