Singapore Moves to Speed Up Private Bank Account Openings
MAS issued guidelines to streamline source of wealth checks for wealthy clients. The move aims to cut median account opening times to less than one month.
Singapore is streamlining private bank account applications to reduce median onboarding times from six weeks to under one month. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued new guidelines to standardize source-of-wealth checks for wealthy clients. Faster onboarding improves capital flow efficiency in a wealth management sector currently slowed by rigorous anti-money laundering protocols.
MAS managing director Chia Der Jiun announced the circular during the morning at the UBS GROUP AG-REG Asian Investment Conference. The guidelines instruct financial institutions to establish client wealth sources in a risk-proportionate manner. This shift aims to eliminate unnecessary steps in the due diligence process.
