Singapore aims to streamline financial watchdog's authority over crypto firms

cointelegraph.com:

The Singaporean government has approved legislation that will give the Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS, additional power to respond to crypto firms doing business outside the country.

Records from the Parliament of Singapore show the government passed the Financial Services and Markets Bill on Tuesday following a second reading on April 4. According to the MAS, the legislation will require virtual asset service providers doing business outside Singapore to be licensed and subject to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism requirements, or AML and CFT, respectively.

“Digital token service providers could easily structure their businesses to evade regulation in any one jurisdiction, as they operate mainly online,” said MAS board member Alvin Tan speaking on behalf of senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. “We could be exposed to reputational risks brought by DT service providers created in Singapore, and which provide services relating to virtual assets such as Bitcoin outside Singapore.”

The financial watchdog will have the power to conduct inspections of digital token service providers related to AML/CFT compliance and assist financial regulators and enforcement agencies in other countries. Cointelegraph reported in December that the MAS denied license applications from more than 100 crypto firms seeking to operate in Singapore.

“DT service providers created in Singapore without providing any DT services in Singapore are currently unregulated for AML/CFT,” said Tan. “These entities may claim to be headquartered here to take advantage of Singapore’s global reputation. This creates reputational risks for Singapore.”

The bill will also expand the MAS’ authority to issue prohibition orders against