How to Meet Know Your Customer Requirements in Singapore

Singapore has strict KYC requirements that you want to meet

Singapore is known for its strict laws that extend to know your customer requirements.

The city-state (country) has been a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since 1992, and POS (point-of-sale) businesses must also meet guidelines set by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).

This means financial institutions must meet a list of requirements to comply with Singapore company name check regulations.

So, what are these requirements and how do you avoid penalties for non-compliance with Singapore KYC requirements?

What Financial Institutions Must Verify

Singapore KYC requirements are regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which issued its Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism in 2007.

All financial institutions must verify the following information before doing business with a new customer. This law also applies to existing customers if their information has not been verified.

• Full name
• Alias
• Identification number from an ID certified by a lawyer or notary public
• Residential address
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Independently verified telephone number
• Telephone confirmation of employment status (with consent)
• Proof of salary details (recent bank statement)
• Initial deposit using a cheque with a bank in Singapore

Financial institutions can use both physical and electronic documents to verify the customers' information.

Additional Due Diligence is Required

Singapore company name check regulations are extensive. After verifying the above-listed information, financial institutions must perform due diligence.

Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has mandated all registered companies to be KYC certified since 2015, a process that requires the following:

• Full name of company
• Identification proof (such as a national ID or passport) and confirmed nationality for each of the directors, shareholders, and ultimate beneficial owners of the company
• Resolution by the company’s board of directors
• Copy of the company’s certificate of incorporation
• Copy of the company’s business profile
• Copy of the company’s merger and acquisition agreements

Even though many financial institutions consider the ACRA certification to be so thorough that it is accepted as proof of identification for many in-house KYC requirements for multiple jurisdictions, it is only a part of the process.

You must also include customer due diligence, customer cross-checks on watchlists, sanctions, and ongoing monitoring and screenings throughout the customer life cycle. In other words, KYC is an ongoing process throughout the relationship between a business and financial institutions.

Which Businesses Must Perform KYC in Singapore

The Parliament of Singapore approved the Payment Services Act of 2019 and in 2020 expanded regulatory and consumer protections to the following fintech and payment services:

• Account issuance services
• Domestic money transfer services
• Cross-border money transfer services
• Merchant Acquisition
• Electronic money issuance
• Digital payment token services
• Money-changing services

If your business falls under one of these types of payment services, you must be compliant with all KYC requirements.

Failing to meet the requirements can result in penalties that include monetary fines, denial of access to business services, and the cancellation of your ACRA registration. Without the registration, you may not be allowed to conduct business in Singapore.