MAS consultation paper proposes new rules to control market abuse

Singapore

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is seeking to impose new requirements on Singapore financial institutions (FIs) to improve controls and facilitate investigations in cases of market abuse.

The central bank said in a consultation paper released on Monday that the absence of information and delays in retrieving information on individuals who own or control trading accounts have impeded investigations into such cases of abuse.

The MAS pointed out that such challenges have been exacerbated by technology, the rising number of cross-border transactions and insufficient controls to detect and deter market abuse at brokerages.

The measures it has proposed in its consultation paper include the introduction of a client identification rule, aimed at identifying ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of orders and trades (O&Ts) executed in om…