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BSI Bank Ordered to Shutdown by the Monetary Authority of Singapore

posted by cmn32480 on Sunday May 29 2016, @12:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the in-for-a-penny dept.
Business

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/singapore/mas-orders-bsi-bank-to/2811530.html

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on Tuesday (May 24) it has ordered the closure of Switzerland's BSI Bank in Singapore.

This is the first time in over 30 years that a merchant bank in Singapore has been ordered to shut down. In 1984, Jardine Fleming (Singapore) was ordered to close over serious lapses in its advisory work.

Six members of the bank's senior management and staff have been referred to the Public Prosecutor to evaluate whether they have committed criminal offences, MAS said.

The six are former CEO Hans Peter Brunner, former Deputy CEO Raj Sriram, head of wealth management services Kevin Michael Swampillai, who is currently suspended by the bank, former senior private bankers Yak Yew Chee and Seah Yew Foong, and former wealth planner Yeo Jiawei, who is currently in remand and has been charged for various offences.

In a press release, the bank responded:

The decision by MAS to withdraw the Bank's status as a merchant bank will take place only at a future time given that MAS "will allow the transfer of the Singapore's subsidiary's assets and liabilities to the Singapore branch of EFG or the parent entity, BSI SA". Also, MAS has stated that "the Bank is solvent and has assets in excess of its liabilities and commitments".

The Bank is not affected by the financial penalties levied by MAS and FINMA as they will be paid by using the BSI's General Reserves for Banking Risks. Furthermore, the Bank is in a very comfortable position in terms of liquidity.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 29 2016, @03:36PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 29 2016, @03:36PM (#352271)

    The title should be "shut down," like the source articles correctly uses. "Shutdown" and "setup" are nouns. "To shut down" and "to set up" are verbs.

    Also, the summary doesn't explain why. From the fine article:

    “MAS found considerable evidence of gross dereliction of duty and failure to discharge oversight responsibilities on the part of BSI Bank’s senior management. Their ineffective governance led to a poor risk culture, which prioritised questionable customer demands ahead of compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and the bank’s own internal controls,” MAS said.

    Several staff also committed wilful acts of misconduct, such as making material misrepresentations to auditors, abetting improper valuations of assets and taking instructions from people other than customers’ authorised representatives on matters relating to customers’ accounts, MAS said.

    The anti-money-laundering charge could be weak, depending on how much they expected the employees to read minds regarding whether a transaction were "suspicious", but they also imply account fraud was an issue (assuming regulators are "authorised representatives").

    “It is a stark reminder to all financial institutions to take their anti-money laundering responsibilities seriously. Controls need to be robust, surveillance vigilant, and the management culture must emphasise professional integrity and risk consciousness.”taken against these institutions if they are found to have breached regulations or fallen short

    In summary, "shut up, slave."

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 29 2016, @07:15PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 29 2016, @07:15PM (#352330)

    blub bluh. useless ... reason?
    isn't this connected to some fund/vehicUle/fantasy-object going belly-up
    in malaysia named IB4U fund or something?

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by arslan on Monday May 30 2016, @01:13AM

      by arslan (3462) on Monday May 30 2016, @01:13AM (#352428)

      Yes, in the global grand scheme of things, this will have little effect on all the ML activities of the big boys. This seems to affect mostly the the ML activity of the very corrupt incumbent Prime Minister of Malaysia and his 1MDB scheme where he funnels all the nations wealth into his own accounts. It is big news obviously for all Malaysians.

      There is speculation he is also getting funds from the Arab/ME nations to tag along for cleansing - which ultimately could be related to the war/terrorism activities. Hopefully this will dent some of his operation. He pretty much owns the cops, secret police, army, judges and election committee or at least able to bully them to do his bidding, so best anyone can do is crimp his style outside of the country.