Raj Sriram, who is also BSIS’ former head of private banking, has been issued a 24-month conditional warning from the Singapore police’s commercial affairs department and a 10-year prohibition order by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
“BSIS, of which Sriram was deputy CEO and head of private banking, was a key conduit for tainted funds in the 1MDB debacle,” said MAS’ deputy managing director (financial supervision) Ho Hern Shin in a statement today.
Ho noted that MAS withdrew BSIS’ licence in May 2016 because of serious and repeated breaches of Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements.
“The ultimate responsibility for ensuring a financial institution’s compliance with AML/CFT laws and regulations rests with its board of directors and senior management.
“MAS will take to task errant board and senior management members whose failures result in their financial institutions violating laws and regulations,” she said.
According to the statement, the commercial affairs department investigated Sriram in relation to his role in BSIS’ business dealings and relationships with the subsidiaries of 1MDB and Aabar Investments PJS Ltd, the purported subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments PJS.
It found that there were reasonable grounds for BSIS to file suspicious transaction reports in respect of 1MDB-related transactions, as required under MAS’ Notice 1014 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism – Merchant Banks.
“Due to Sriram’s neglect, BSIS did not file the STRs,” it said.
After careful consideration of the circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the department issued a conditional warning in lieu of prosecution to Sriram for two offences under Section 28B(1) read with Section 27B(2) of the MAS Act.
Under the conditional warning, Sriram paid a sum of S$150,000 to the Singapore government’s consolidated fund; committed to refrain from criminal conduct for a period of 24 months; continue to cooperate with the department in its 1MDB-related investigations; and not accept directorship positions or positions of similar form for four years from Sept 6, 2021.
Further to the conditional warning, MAS performed a review of Sriram’s conduct as a former regulated representative during his term at BSIS.
MAS assessed that Sriram’s conduct warranted a 10-year prohibition order as he held a senior position at BSIS and his neglect had contributed to BSIS’ failure to file the suspicious transaction reports.
The order, which took effect today, prohibits Sriram from providing any financial advisory service or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of, any financial advisory firm under the Financial Advisers Act.