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| No more $10,000 notes from October  Thrina Tham My Paper Thursday, Jul 03, 2014 Singapore will stop issuing $10,000 notes, as part of measures to tighten anti-money-laundering controls and curb funding for terrorist activities. Starting on Oct 1, the move will reduce risks associated with large-value cash transactions, said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) deputy managing director Ong Chong Tee yesterday. "The development of more advanced and secure electronic payment systems has reduced the need for large-value cash-based transactions," he said. While existing notes will remain legal tender, Mr Ong does not expect the discontinuation to cause major inconvenience. Speaking at the annual Association of Banks in Singapore Financial Crime Seminar, Mr Ong also stressed that financial crime is a "serious global threat". He identified high-risk sectors as "the cash-intensive and internationally oriented ones, such as casinos and remittance agents". The authorities have put in place guidelines that meet international standards to counter money laundering and terrorism financing. MAS will also impose more severe penalties on financial institutions that breach these rules. "We will not be apologetic about being intrusive and probing in our supervision work, and money-laundering and terrorist-financing risks will continue to be a key thematic area of focus," Mr Ong said. Responding to queries from My Paper yesterday, Mr Sunny Quek, OCBC Bank's Head of Branch and Group Premier Banking, said very few of the bank's customers carry out transactions using $10,000 notes. "Those who do so are typically our high-net-worth customers and are usually for special occasions, like Chinese New Year," he added. |