Banks in Singapore are stepping up scrutiny of customers from a range of countries including China and intensifying efforts to identify the sources of wealth as the city-state reels from a ballooning S$2.4bn (US$1.8bn) money-laundering scandal.
Financial institutions have warned customers and their advisers that the waiting period to open a private banking account has increased from less than one month to three to four, according to wealth advisers, asset managers and private bankers. Some existing accounts are being closed, the people added.
The longer processing times are not an official rule change, the people said, but a reflection of authorities tightening due diligence across the financial sector after a transnational money laundering syndicate was exposed in August.