Can private wealth management hubs stay neutral and discreet in an increasingly polarized world? Private banks in Zurich lost some of their shine after Switzerland decided to adopt the European Union’s sanctions against Russia in 2022 over the war in Ukraine. Singapore, long a haven for the super wealthy, is about to find out.
A recent $3 billion money-laundering scandal is putting the island-state on the back foot. It’s forcing the government to ask if the sharp influx of new money is too hot to handle.
Call it Singapore-washing. Chinese companies have been moving to the Southeast Asian nation to sidestep US-China geopolitical tensions. Some are also running away from President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive. Between 2019, when this trend started to pick up, and 2022, direct investment from China grew by more than one-third. Fast-fashion e-commerce unicorn Shein Group Ltd., aiming to go public at an above US$60 billion ($81.16 billion) valuation, is now headquartered in Singapore. So is Hillhouse Investment, best known for backing some of China’s biggest tech startups.
It’s been a boon for Singapore, especially the banks. In 2022 alone, the country attracted $435 billion in new money, or about 70% of its gross domestic product. DBS Group Holdings Ltd.’s private banking franchise, for instance, is flourishing. In the first quarter, its fee income rose 23% year-on-year to a record $1 billion, led by a 47% increase in wealth management fees. Its shares have risen by a third over the last year, outperforming Hong Kong-listed HSBC Holdings Plc.
After the global financial crisis, stringent capital requirements have made wealth management — till then a sleepy backwater — a bank’s crown jewel. Managing money for the rich doesn’t come with the typical credit or market risks associated with investment banking.
The one risk involved, though, is reputation. Unlike the 1MDB scandal, which got Goldman Sachs Group Inc. into trouble, this time, the entire Singapore brand — its private banking industry as well as money-laundering regulations — is being judged. After all, a full suite of banks, not just one or two, got caught up in the recent case. A group originally from China laundered billions of dollars in proceeds from online gambling through more than a dozen banks in Singapore.
With its image at stake, Singapore is now ramping up scrutiny of family offices — a broad, opaque, unregulated subset space of private wealth. It’s also nudging banks to step up due diligence to avoid exposure to illicit flows. In April, the central bank launched a new digital information sharing system, allowing financial institutions to share client data and raise red flags.
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These days, launching family offices with tax exemptions is taking a lot longer in Singapore. So is opening private banking accounts. Chinese that carry “golden” passports from countries including Turkey and Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean are seen as warning signs.
Singapore-washing is just a new iteration of an old problem — the city was once referred to as Indonesia’s money laundromat. Wealthy Southeast Asians, some with questionable connections, parked their money there. Singapore-based entities at one point were the third-largest source of weapons materials to the Myanmar military. But it has taken new Chinese money to put the issue in the international spotlight. After all, China is much bigger. The sheer scale and speed of fund flows from there force Singapore to address weaknesses in its financial system.
To be sure, as a small, open economy, Singapore is structurally exposed to money laundering, especially if it wants to develop wealth management. In 2022, it had $4.9 trillion assets under management, many times over its GDP. Only 24% of these funds were sourced domestically, and 88% were invested into assets outside of Singapore. The question is how much the government wants to examine the money that comes in and goes out. More scrutiny would set back the growth of its banks.
Being a glitzy global financial centre has a lot of appeal. Prestige aside, a booming banking industry boosts employment, the local economy, as well as real estate values. But then compliance is also a big headache. Dubai has decided to welcome all shades of grey, making itself a playground for crypto and Russian billionaires. Singapore, it turns out, still cares about its reputation. Singapore-washing has finally hit a wall.
