Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Whether All Major Banks in Singapore have Employees Working from the Anti-Scam Centre to Facilitate the Cooperation in Targeting and Bringing Down Online Scams

Question:

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether all major banks in Singapore have employees working from the Anti-Scam Centre to facilitate the cooperation in targeting and bringing down online scams.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1.   Having banks co-locate their staff with Police at the Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) enables banks to provide real-time assistance to the Police, to coordinate investigative efforts, trace the flow of the funds, and freeze bank accounts suspected to be involved in the scammers' operation.

2.   As of July 2022, we have staff from DBS, OCBC, UOB, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank co-located at the ASC. ASC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore are working with more banks to likewise co-locate their staff at the ASC, to provide real-time coordination and timely intervention.