Singapore’s financial regulator has been working with the private banking industry to reduce the time required to open new client accounts to one month.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will aim to shorten the time required for clients to open new private banking accounts to one month, according to Chia Der Jiun, the regulator’s managing director, down from the current median duration of about six weeks or longer for complex cases.
Expectations of the reduced duration was the result of the MAS collaboration with the Private Banking Industry Group (PBIG), which formed the Account Opening Workgroup last year. This has led to a circular issued by the financial watchdog yesterday that provided guidance on establishing a client’s source of wealth in a “risk proportionate way” as well as tips from the PBIG on common challenges in account opening.
“More efficient account opening will improve the competitiveness of the wealth management industry while maintaining high standards,” Chia said during the UBS Asian Investment Conference’s Singapore wealth edition.
