Singapore banking and KYC glossary: key terms in English and Chinese

Singapore's central bank and integrated financial regulator. MAS licenses and supervises banks, insurers, capital markets intermediaries and payment institutions, and issues the notices and guidelines that set anti-money laundering duties for each sector. For account opening, the main MAS instruments are Notice 626 and its Guidelines. MAS does not open accounts or take part in individual account decisions. To check whether an institution is regulated, search the MAS Financial Institutions Directory.

The legally binding MAS notice on preventing money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism by banks. Issued under section 16 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022, it applies to all banks in Singapore. The version dated 28 March 2024 took effect on 1 April 2024, and the latest amendment took effect on 1 July 2025. It sets out customer due diligence, beneficial owner identification, enhanced measures for higher-risk customers, record keeping and suspicious transaction reporting.

MAS guidance explaining how banks should apply Notice 626. It is not a separate rulebook but sets supervisory expectations. Frequently cited passages include paragraph 6-8-2, on identifying beneficial owners, paragraph 8-2, which lists examples of higher-risk customers, and paragraphs 8-5-5 and 8-5-6, which define source of wealth and source of funds. This site cites the March 2024 version.

The registrar of companies, business names, limited liability partnerships and variable capital companies in Singapore. ACRA runs the Bizfile portal, keeps a central register of controllers (since 30 July 2020) and registers corporate service providers under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, which took effect on 9 June 2025. Banks rely on ACRA records to verify a company's existence, officers and registered address.

Singapore's tax authority. For account opening, IRAS matters because it administers the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and FATCA in Singapore. Financial institutions report to IRAS each year, and IRAS exchanges the information with partner jurisdictions. IRAS also issues tax reference numbers (ASGD or ITR) to taxpayers who have no NRIC, FIN or UEN, and publishes the e-Tax Guides that explain entity classification.

The statutory body that administers Singapore's Deposit Insurance Scheme. SDIC insures eligible Singapore-dollar deposits of individuals and non-bank depositors, including companies, sole proprietorships and partnerships, up to S$100,000 in aggregate per depositor per Scheme member. The limit has applied since 1 April 2024. Foreign-currency deposits, structured deposits and investment products are excluded. SDIC publishes the list of member institutions.

Collaborative Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases. MAS launched the platform on 1 April 2024, and six banks took part from launch: DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered. It focuses on misuse of legal persons, misuse of trade finance and proliferation financing. Banks may share customer information only when objectively defined red-flag indicators are present, and participating banks must take COSMIC information into account in their monitoring (MAS, 1 April 2024).

The intergovernmental body that sets international standards against money laundering and terrorism financing and assesses how countries implement them. Singapore is a member. FATF standards shape MAS rules. Notice 626 requires banks to treat customers connected to jurisdictions on which FATF has called for countermeasures as higher risk, and SFO fund vehicles incorporated abroad may bank in jurisdictions that comply with FATF standards.

A public-private partnership launched in April 2017 and co-chaired by MAS and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force, with banks and other industry participants. ACIP publishes best-practice papers, including "Best Practices on Source of Wealth Due Diligence" (May 2025), which describes tiered source-of-wealth checks for individual and corporate customers. ACIP papers are industry guidance and state that they do not set additional requirements beyond MAS rules.

MAS's public online register of regulated financial institutions, searchable by name and licence type. It is the authoritative way to check whether a bank, digital bank, fund manager or financial adviser holds a licence or is exempt. The directory shows regulatory status only. It does not rate institutions or confirm that a particular product is suitable for you.

The everyday term for the checks a bank carries out to establish who its customer is, who owns and controls it, what the account is for and where the money comes from. In Singapore the legal term is customer due diligence (CDD) under MAS Notice 626. KYC does not end at onboarding: banks monitor accounts and refresh customer information periodically, especially when risk indicators change.

The set of measures MAS Notice 626 requires: identifying and verifying the customer, connected parties, persons acting for the customer and beneficial owners, and understanding the purpose and intended nature of the relationship. Verification must use "reliable, independent source data, documents or information" (paragraph 6.9). Under paragraph 6.35, a bank that cannot complete CDD must not open the account and must consider filing a suspicious transaction report.

Additional measures applied to politically exposed persons and other customers assessed as higher risk. Under Notice 626, paragraphs 8.3 and 8.7, these include senior management approval, establishing source of wealth and source of funds by appropriate and reasonable means, and enhanced ongoing monitoring. Higher risk triggers ECDD; it does not by itself mean the bank will decline the customer.

The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a customer, or on whose behalf a transaction is conducted. Notice 626, paragraph 6.14, sets a cascade for legal persons: first those who ultimately own it, then those who control it by other means, and finally those with executive authority. MAS Guidelines give ownership of more than 25% as an example threshold, counting aggregated holdings. For trusts, banks identify the settlor, trustees, protector and beneficiaries.

A term defined in MAS Notice 626. For a legal person other than a partnership, it means any director or any natural person with executive authority. For a partnership, it means any partner or manager. Banks must identify connected parties by full name and identification number (paragraph 6.8), so every director of a corporate applicant is named in the bank's records even if they hold no shares.

A person whom the customer has authorised to operate the account or give instructions to the bank. For companies, signatories are usually appointed by board resolution, which also sets signing rules such as "any one" or "any two". Notice 626, paragraph 6.11, requires banks to verify each appointee's due authority through documentary evidence and to obtain a specimen signature or electronic means of verification.

A person who holds or has held a prominent public function in Singapore, abroad or at an international organisation, together with their family members and close associates. Banks must apply enhanced CDD, including establishing source of wealth and source of funds, to foreign PEPs (Notice 626, paragraph 8.3), and may take a risk-based approach for domestic, international-organisation and former PEPs unless the relationship presents higher risk (paragraph 8.4). PEP status is a risk factor, not a bar to holding an account.

The origin of the particular funds or other assets used to establish or conduct the banking relationship. MAS Guidelines (paragraph 8-5-6) say banks should look past the institution that remitted the money to "the activity that generated the funds", such as salary payments or sale proceeds. Source of funds explains this deposit or transfer, not the customer's whole balance sheet.

The origin of the customer's and beneficial owner's "entire body of wealth (i.e. total assets)" (MAS Guidelines, paragraph 8-5-5). Typical evidence includes evidence of title, trust deeds, audited accounts, salary details, tax returns and bank statements. MAS Circular AMLD 05/2026 (25 May 2026) asks institutions to establish source of wealth in proportion to risk and to focus on material elements.

Opening an account without meeting the customer in person, for example through an app, video call or Myinfo data. MAS Notice 626, paragraph 6.29, permits it on condition that the bank's CDD is "at least as robust" as it would be face to face. Whether a bank offers remote opening for a particular customer type is its own decision. Some products still require a branch visit.

After an account is open, banks must monitor business relations on an ongoing basis (Notice 626, paragraph 6.19), checking that transactions match their knowledge of the customer, its business, risk profile and, where appropriate, source of funds (paragraph 6.20). CDD is also repeated periodically. Customers may therefore be asked to update documents, ownership details or tax forms years after opening.

A report that a financial institution files with the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office of the Singapore Police Force when it knows or suspects that funds or a transaction are linked to crime. Notice 626 requires a bank that cannot complete CDD to consider whether an STR is warranted (paragraph 6.35). Banks do not disclose to customers whether a report has been filed.

The term refers to indicators set out in MAS Notice 626, paragraph 8.6(c). A bank must assess whether a legal person is higher risk if it cannot establish that the entity has an ongoing, apparent or visible operation or business activity, an economic or business purpose for its structure, or substantive financial activity with the bank. Holding companies can meet these tests by documenting their purpose and the assets they hold.

A person who lets others use their bank account, or who passes on their Singapore credentials, often to move scam proceeds. Offences targeting people who hand over control of bank accounts or disclose Singpass credentials came into force on 8 February 2024. They carry up to three years' imprisonment, a fine or both (Singapore Police Force, 8 September 2024). Lending a company account to third parties raises the same risk.

The standard identification number for entities registered in Singapore, including companies, businesses, LLPs and VCCs. Banks record the UEN as the entity's identification number under Notice 626, paragraph 6.6, and it serves as the entity's Singapore tax identification number on CRS forms. Businesses can also register their UEN as a PayNow proxy to receive transfers.

An ACRA document summarising a registered entity's current information: name, UEN, registered address, principal activities, share capital, officers and shareholders. Banks usually ask for a recent business profile, or retrieve the data themselves through Myinfo Business, to verify the company's existence and officers. Bizfile is also the portal used to register companies and file updates.

The document that sets out a company's internal rules, including directors' powers, how decisions are made, and share rights. Notice 626, paragraph 6.7, requires banks to identify "the legal form, constitution and powers that regulate and bind the legal person". Banks read the constitution to confirm who may open and operate an account, and whether any restrictions apply to borrowing or signing authority.

A formal decision of a company's directors, passed at a meeting or in writing. For account opening, a resolution typically authorises the company to open the account, adopts the bank's mandate terms and names the authorised signatories with their signing limits. Banks often provide their own resolution template. Any change of signatories later requires a fresh resolution.

ACRA states that every Singapore company must have at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore and aged 18 or above. Qualifying local residents include citizens, permanent residents and holders of a valid Employment Pass, Personalised Employment Pass or Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass, subject to residency rules (ACRA, checked October 2026). This is a company-law requirement, separate from bank criteria.

A director who acts on the instructions of another person. Nominee directors must inform the company of their nominee status and provide details of their nominator, and since 9 June 2025 anyone acting as a nominee director by way of business must be arranged through a registered corporate service provider. Banks treat a nominee director as a connected party and still identify the person who actually controls the company.

A business that provides corporate services such as company registration, company secretarial services or nominee arrangements. Under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024, which took effect on 9 June 2025, businesses providing the listed corporate services must register with ACRA (deadline 9 December 2025), subject to stated exemptions. Foreigners who want to register a business in Singapore must engage a CSP. A CSP may help prepare bank documents, but the bank makes its own decision.

A register that most Singapore companies must keep, listing individuals and entities with significant interest or significant control. Significant interest means more than 25% of shares or voting rights. Where no controller can be identified, directors with executive control and the CEO are treated as controllers. Companies registered on or after 16 June 2025 file the information with ACRA at registration, and all companies must lodge updates with ACRA within 2 business days of updating their own register (ACRA Guidance v2.0, 10.1.2–10.1.3).

Singapore's corporate digital identity, used by entities to transact with government agencies and some private-sector services. A Corppass Admin authorises users. Several banks and digital banks require an active Corppass so they can retrieve company data through Myinfo Business. Corppass issues a Singpass Foreign user Account automatically when a foreign individual without Singapore identity documents applies for a Corppass user account (IRAS, updated 13 August 2026).

Singpass is the national digital identity, available to citizens, PRs and FIN holders aged 15 or above. Myinfo lets users share government-verified data, such as their name and address, with banks to pre-fill applications. A Singpass Foreign user Account (SFA) is issued by a specific organisation, such as Corppass, to foreign users without Singapore credentials, and can be used only for that organisation's services (IRAS, updated 13 August 2026).

An operating account designed for frequent payments, receipts, cheques and GIRO, usually with little or no interest. Business accounts in Singapore are typically current accounts. Banks often charge a monthly service fee unless a minimum average daily balance is kept: DBS, for example, publishes S$10,000 and S$40 for its SGD business current account (checked October 2026).

An account, or a group of linked sub-accounts, that holds balances in several currencies under one account number or profile. Balance requirements are often measured in Singapore-dollar equivalent across all currencies. Only the Singapore-dollar portion is eligible for SDIC deposit insurance. Foreign-currency balances are not insured.

The average of end-of-day balances over a calendar month that a customer must keep to avoid a service fee, or sometimes to earn bonus interest. Banks calculate it differently: some use a monthly average balance, and some count all currencies. Always check the current tariff, because banks may change thresholds and fees.

A fee charged when the average balance drops below the required minimum, or a fixed monthly account fee. Published examples checked October 2026 include S$2 to S$7.50 a month on DBS, POSB and OCBC personal accounts. On business accounts, OCBC's Business Growth Account charges S$20 a month and UOB's eBusiness Account charges S$15, each below its own balance threshold. Introductory waivers often apply.

A one-time fee some banks charge when opening certain accounts, most often for companies incorporated outside Singapore. Published examples checked October 2026: OCBC's Business Foreign Account has a set-up fee of US$1,200, and UOB charges a minimum of S$500 for overseas-incorporated companies on its eBusiness Account. Paying a set-up fee does not mean the application will be approved.

A relationship tier for customers who keep higher balances or invested assets, offering a dedicated relationship manager and preferential pricing. Entry levels are set by each bank, for example S$200,000 at HSBC Premier and Standard Chartered Priority, and S$350,000 at DBS Treasures, OCBC Premier and UOB Privilege Banking (checked October 2026). These are commercial thresholds, not regulatory ones.

Wealth management services for high-net-worth clients, usually with investable-asset thresholds in the millions. Published entry levels include over US$5 million at DBS Private Bank and at least US$5 million at Bank of Singapore (checked October 2026). Private banks typically apply full source-of-wealth review to every client. Private banking services are covered in depth on hnwsolution.com.sg.

An instant funds-transfer service run by Singapore banks. Individuals link their mobile number or NRIC/FIN to a bank account, and entities link their UEN. From 6 June 2026 the Association of Banks in Singapore discontinued the PayNow nickname display for retail customers; payers now see selected letters of the recipient's registered name (ABS, 29 April 2026). Corporate PayNow lets customers pay a business without needing its account number.

An account held by two or more persons. MAS Notice 626, paragraph 6.37, requires banks to perform CDD on every joint holder as if each were an individual customer. For deposit insurance, SDIC splits joint balances equally among holders and adds each share to that holder's other deposits at the same Scheme member.

The OECD standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities. Singapore has exchanged information under CRS since September 2018. Reporting financial institutions file with IRAS by 31 May each year. The Amended CRS applies from 1 January 2027, and exchanges under it are expected from 2028 (IRAS, updated 9 September 2026). CRS is a reporting regime and does not itself impose tax.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a US law that requires financial institutions worldwide to identify and report accounts held by US persons. Singapore has a Model 1 intergovernmental agreement with the United States; the FATCA Regulations 2015 giving effect to it entered into force on 18 March 2015, and the FATCA Regulations 2020 for the reciprocal agreement on 1 January 2021 (IRAS). Singapore institutions report US accounts through IRAS.

The number a tax authority uses to identify a taxpayer. In Singapore it is the NRIC for citizens and PRs, the FIN for foreign pass holders and the UEN for entities. IRAS issues an ASGD or ITR number to taxpayers who have none of these (OECD TIN sheet for Singapore, 2023). CRS forms ask for a TIN for every jurisdiction of tax residence.

A signed declaration in which an account holder states their jurisdictions of tax residence and TINs, and for entities their CRS or FATCA classification and controlling persons. IRAS states that a financial institution may decline to open an account if no valid self-certification is provided, and that a wilfully false statement is an offence.

CRS categories for entities that are not financial institutions. One Active NFE test is that less than 50% of gross income is passive income and less than 50% of assets produce passive income. A Passive NFE includes a professionally managed investment entity in a non-participating jurisdiction. A Passive NFE must identify its controlling persons and provide their self-certifications (IRAS CRS e-Tax Guide, fifth edition, 11 August 2026).

Under CRS, the natural persons who exercise control over an entity. Control by ownership is usually identified by a risk-based threshold, and IRAS gives 25% as an example. If no one controls the entity through ownership, control by other means applies, and failing that, senior managing officials are treated as controlling persons. A bank reports a Passive NFE's account where any controlling person is reportable.

An entity that manages assets for a single family. Under MAS's revised framework effective 15 June 2026, qualifying SFOs fall within a licensing class exemption if they meet certain conditions. These include notifying MAS, filing annual returns, and having the SFO and each fund vehicle open and maintain an account with a MAS-licensed bank (foreign-incorporated fund vehicles may instead use a regulated bank in a FATF-compliant jurisdiction). Existing SFOs have a transitional period until 15 June 2027.

A Singapore corporate structure for investment funds, registered with ACRA under the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018. A VCC can have sub-funds and can issue and redeem shares at net asset value. For AML purposes, Notice VCC-N01 requires the VCC to appoint an eligible financial institution. Setting up and taxing a VCC is covered on vccfund.com.sg.

The financial institution a VCC must appoint under MAS Notice VCC-N01 to carry out AML/CFT checks, including customer due diligence on investors and maintaining a register of beneficial owners. EFIs come from listed categories that include banks, merchant banks, finance companies, licensed financial advisers, capital markets services licence holders, approved trustees and licensed trust companies (Notice VCC-N01, amended 30 June 2025).

A statutory investor category under section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act 2001. For individuals, the criteria are net personal assets exceeding S$2 million (with primary residence counted up to S$1 million), net financial assets exceeding S$1 million, or income of at least S$300,000 in the preceding 12 months. Eligible individuals must expressly opt in. Some private banking tiers require AI status.

A digital bank licence that allows the holder to take deposits from and provide banking services to retail and non-retail customers. MAS's current DFB licensees are GXS Bank and MariBank Singapore (MAS Digital Bank Licence page, updated 12 August 2024). Account eligibility, particularly for business accounts, is set by each bank and may be limited to citizens, PRs or Singpass users.

A digital bank licence limited to SMEs and other non-retail customers. MAS's current DWB licensees are ANEXT Bank and Green Link Digital Bank. MAS states it is currently not granting new digital bank licences. Trust Bank Singapore is not a digital bank licensee; the MAS Financial Institutions Directory lists it as a Full Bank (entry updated 25 August 2026).