Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Checks on Prospective Property Buyers

Questions:

Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) for each year since 2013, how many foreign persons have received approval to purchase terrace houses, semi-detached houses, detached or strata landed houses under the Residential Property Act 1976; (b) whether investigations into the sources of funds for the purchase of these properties are conducted before such approvals are granted; and (c) if not, why not.

Ms Mariam Jaafar : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether property developers are obligated to report property buyers who fail the Customer Due Diligence (CDD) checks performed on them to the authorities; and (b) if so, to date, how many property buyers have failed such CDD checks.

Answer:

Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information & Second Minister for Home Affairs:

1. Many Members have filed queries on the recent anti-money laundering operations conducted by the Police and Singapore’s anti-money laundering framework. The queries cover a wide range of issues across several Ministries. The Ministry of Home Affairs, together with various other Ministries, will respond to the queries comprehensively in a Ministerial Statement in October.