Singapore recorded a 579% rise in anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) fines issued by its central bank last year, underscoring a sharp escalation in enforcement activity following one of the city-state’s largest ever money laundering scandals.
The dramatic increase highlights how regulators are responding to weaknesses exposed in parts of the financial system, particularly those linked to private banking and cross-border wealth flows, said FinTech News Singapore.
Authorities have since moved to reinforce Singapore’s reputation as a trusted global financial hub by tightening supervision and signalling a lower tolerance for compliance failures.
The findings come from new research by RegTech firm Fenergo, which analysed enforcement actions for breaches of AML, know your customer (KYC), sanctions and customer due diligence (CDD) requirements worldwide. While Singapore and several other regions recorded sharp increases, the global picture was more mixed. According to the data, total penalties worldwide fell 18% in 2025 to $3.8bn, down from $4.6bn in 2024 and $6.6bn in 2023.
This overall decline, however, masks significant regional divergence. North American regulators reduced the total value of fines by 58%, reflecting fewer blockbuster enforcement actions compared with previous years. In contrast, penalties across Europe, the Middle East and Africa surged by 767%, driven by the conclusion of long-running investigations and a renewed focus on systemic compliance failures.
Asia-Pacific also saw enforcement activity intensify, with fines rising 44% year on year. In several jurisdictions, regulators concluded complex cases that had been building for years, while also stepping up scrutiny of higher-risk sectors. Singapore stood out within the region due to the scale of the increase and the strategic shift in supervisory priorities.
“In Singapore, enforcement action has intensified following a major money laundering scandal. In response, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has tightened its focus on private banking and cross-border wealth flows, with a clear aim of positioning the city-state as a global leader in source of wealth (SOW) and source of funds (SOF) enforcement,” Fenergo head of financial crime policy Rory Doyle said.
Globally, the largest single penalty in 2025 was a €835m fine, equivalent to around $985m, imposed by French authorities on a Swiss bank for AML failures. This enforcement action helped make France the second-largest enforcer by total fine value, behind the United States.
The report also highlighted the continued regulatory pressure facing digital asset firms. Crypto and digital asset businesses accounted for nearly a quarter of the top ten AML fines, remaining disproportionately represented among the largest penalties. Fenergo noted that rapid growth in transaction volumes and increased stablecoin usage have continued to outpace compliance maturity in parts of the sector, prompting regulators to demand controls that more closely resemble traditional bank-grade standards.
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