MAS unveils new Cosmic platform to help banks defend against terrorism financing and money laundering
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced the launch of a new centralised digital platform called Cosmic aimed at helping banks combat terrorism financing and money laundering through the sharing of customer information.
MAS unveils new Cosmic platform
Cosmic was co-developed by MAS and six commercial Singaporean banks – Citibank, DBS, HSBC, OCBC, UOB, and Standard Chartered Bank – with these financial institutions being the first to implement the solution during its initial phase.
MAS states that information sharing between the participating banks through Cosmic is voluntary and centred around three primary financial crime risks in commercial banking: the misuse of trade finance for illicit purposes; the misuse of legal persons; and incidents of proliferation financing.
With the arrival of Cosmic, the regulator says it has also amended the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023 to set out the legislative framework and ensure the necessary safeguards are in place for such information sharing.
MAS says that the exchange of customer information among participating financial institutions is only permitted when the “customer’s profile or behaviour displays certain objectively-defined indicators of suspicion” or “red flags”.
“The FSMA requires participant FIs to have in place policies and operational safeguards to protect the confidentiality of information shared,” it adds. “This will allow participant FIs to share information on potential criminal behaviour while safeguarding the interests of the vast majority of customers who are legitimate.”
The regulator’s assistant MD (Policy, Payments and Financial Crime), Loo Siew Yee, says that the Cosmic platform will enable financial institutions to “warn each other of suspicious activities” and conduct more informed risk assessments promptly.
“This will strengthen Singapore’s capabilities to uphold our reputation as a well-regulated and trusted financial centre,” she adds.
