Singapore to slash private bank account opening to under a month

A new circular aims to cut onboarding bottlenecks.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) plans to reduce median private banking account opening times to within a month, down from six weeks or longer for more complex cases, Managing Director Chia Der Jiun said. 

In line with this, the regulator issued a circular directing financial institutions to establish clients’ Source of Wealth in a more “risk proportionate” manner, Chia announced at the UBS Asian Investment Conference Singapore Wealth Edition on 25 May.

It provides further guidance on applying materiality and relevance principles so financial institutions can avoid unnecessary steps and adopt a more targeted approach, he added.

The circular supplements earlier MAS guidance, including a 2024 circular and an information paper on supervisory expectations for financial institutions’ application of anti-money laundering controls.

Alongside the circular, Chia said the Private Banking Industry Group will release a set of ‘Process Enhancement Tips’ to address common onboarding bottlenecks.

“And in the months ahead, the industry will roll out case studies and training for relationship managers and compliance professionals,” he added.