The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has introduced COSMIC, a digital platform aimed at bolstering the global financial system’s defences against money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF), and proliferation financing (PF).
COSMIC, which stands for ‘Collaborative Sharing of Money Laundering /TF Information and Cases’ serves as a centralised platform facilitating the sharing of customer information among financial institutions. It also aims to identify and mitigate potential risks associated with criminal activities.
A COSMIC participant FI may share customer information with another participant FI only if the customer’s profile or behaviour displays certain objectively-defined indicators of suspicion, or ‘red flags’.
Loo Siew Yee, assistant managing director (policy, payments and financial crime), MAS, said: “COSMIC will enable FIs to warn each other of suspicious activities and make more informed risk assessments on a timely basis.
“It complements the industry’s existing close collaboration with MAS and law enforcement authorities to combat financial crime. This will strengthen Singapore’s capabilities to uphold our reputation as a well-regulated and trusted financial centre.”
COSMIC’s development involved collaboration between MAS and six major commercial banks in Singapore: DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC as well as Standard Chartered Bank.
These banks serve as initial participants in COSMIC, focusing on three key financial crime risks in commercial banking: misuse of legal persons, trade finance for illicit purposes, and proliferation financing, which refers to the raising, moving or making available of financing, funds, assets or other economic resources to individuals or entities to support the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
