The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will bring more banks onto COSMIC and widen the platform’s scope beyond its three initial financial crime risks.
MAS launched the Collaborative Sharing of ML/TF Information & Cases, or COSMIC, on 1 April 2024 to help banks share risk information and detect and disrupt illicit fund flows.
The platform initially involved six major commercial banks in Singapore and focused on misuse of legal persons, misuse of trade finance for illicit purposes and proliferation financing.
Since its launch, information shared through COSMIC has led participating banks to file additional suspicious transaction reports.
Banks have also closed a significant number of suspicious customer accounts following reviews and investigations.
The shared information has helped banks and MAS identify suspicious networks and supported investigations by the authorities.
The Financial Action Task Force recognised COSMIC’s effectiveness in its recent mutual evaluation of Singapore.
MAS plans to complete the expansion within two years while balancing wider information sharing against the risk of undue de-risking and the need to protect customer information.
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