ENHANCED REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPERS AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING, PROLIFERATION FINANCING AND TERRORISM FINANCING

Circular No : URA/COH/Circular-2025-01

Our Ref : URA/COH/Circular

CIRCULAR TO PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTES

Who Should Know:
Developers and Solicitors

Effective Date:
With effect from 1 Jul 2025

Enhanced Requirements for Developers against Money Laundering, Proliferation Financing and Terrorism Financing

Background

1. Developers are currently required to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter financing of terrorism (CFT) requirements under the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Act 1965 ↗ (opens in new tab), Sale of Commercial Properties Act 1979, Housing Developers (Anti-Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Terrorism Financing) Rules and Sale of Commercial Properties (Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Rules (“Acts and Rules”).

2. These requirements are based on the recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which sets international standards to tackle money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF), and proliferation financing (PF).

Requirements on Prevention of Money Laundering, Proliferation Financing and Terrorism Financing

3. To strengthen our AML and CFT framework and clarify requirements to align with FATF standards, the Acts and Rules have been amended to:

a. Increase maximum composition sums for housing developers to $50,000 and allow compounding of selected offences with maximum composition sums set at $50,000. The offences that may be compounded are set out under the Housing Developers (Compoundable Offences) Rules and Sale of Commercial Properties (Compoundable Offences) Rules;

b. Clarify that the AML and CFT framework covers measures to counter PF;

c. Clarify that measures relating to targeted financial sanctions apply to TF and PF, in addition to terrorism;

d. Clarify that persons convicted of ML, PF and TF offences domestically and overseas will not be granted a housing developer’s licence;

e. Require developers to identify the person on whose behalf the purchaser of a property, who is a natural person, is acting and extend existing screening requirements to that person;

f. Clarify that (i) developers are required to take reasonable measures to identify if a purchaser or BO is a politically exposed person (PEP) or a family member or close associate of a PEP, and (ii) PEPs are not limited to PEPs of a foreign country, but also include domestic and international organisation PEPs;

g. Prohibit developers from entering into transactions with a person suspected of, or at risk of, facilitating ML, PF or TF, as notified by the Controller.

4. These measures are generally not new to developers. The PF and TF measures are already part of existing anti-money laundering requirements, as the underlying PF and TF offences are also ML predicate offences. Developers are also already identifying and screening PEPs and BOs as part of their existing Customer Due Diligence checks. The new amendments are intended to further strengthen and provide clarifications on our national strategy against ML, TF and PF.

Implementation

5. The amended Acts and Rules will take effect on 1 July 2025. Developers may refer to the updated guidelines on the prevention of ML, PF and TF in Annex A [PDF, 851 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab) and the list of frequently asked questions in Annex B [PDF, 15 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab) for more details.

6. We would appreciate it if you could convey the contents of this circular to the relevant members of your organisation. If you or your members have any queries concerning this circular, you may contact us via email at ura_coh_registry@ura.gov.sg.

Thank You.

LING HUI LIN (MS)
CONTROLLER OF HOUSING
URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

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