The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a centralized digital platform that allows financial institutions to share customer information to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Cosmic platform has been built by MAS with the six major banks that will be its first users – DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered.
Participants can only share customer information with each other if the customer profile or behavior shows “objectively defined” red flags.
Information sharing focuses on three key financial crime risks: legal entity abuse; misuse of trade finance for illegal purposes; and proliferation financing.
Loo Siew Yee, deputy managing director of MAS, said: “This will strengthen Singapore’s ability to maintain our reputation as a well-regulated and trustworthy financial centre.”