Singapore Bill Gives MAS New Powers on Bank Capital and Proliferation Financing

The Financial Services and Markets (Amendment) Bill (Bill No. 19/2026) was introduced in the Parliament of Singapore on 8 September 2026 and read the first time the same day, as published in the Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, Bills Supplement No. 19, dated Tuesday, 8 September 2026. The Bill amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 to give the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) new powers to impose total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements on certain financial institutions and to explicitly extend the anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing (AML/CFT) regime to cover the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Bill is the latest step in Singapore’s effort to align its financial supervision with international standards on bank resolvability and financial-crime prevention. It makes related amendments to seven other statutes, and the Government has stated that the Bill will not involve any extra public financial expenditure.

New total loss-absorbing capacity powers

The Bill inserts a new Division 3 into Part 7 of the principal Act, comprising new sections 57A and 57B, which empower MAS to impose, by written notice, requirements on the total loss-absorbing capacity that a “Division 6 financial institution” must maintain. Under the new framework, a loss-absorbing instrument may be an ordinary share or an eligible instrument meeting criteria set out in a written notice, and total loss-absorbing capacity is the sum of the values of such instruments and other financial resources available to absorb losses and facilitate recapitalisation.

• MAS may specify the level of TLAC (which may be expressed as a ratio) and the method of calculation.
• It may set the criteria an eligible instrument must satisfy to qualify as loss-absorbing, including the classes of investors to which such instruments must be issued.
• It may require a Division 6 FI to disclose publicly the level and composition of its TLAC and the order of priority its loss-absorbing instruments would rank in a winding-up.
• Notices may differentiate between classes of Division 6 FIs and need not be published in the Gazette.

A Division 6 FI that fails to comply with a notice is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $250,000, plus a further fine of up to $25,000 for each day a continuing offence persists.

Extending the AML/CFT regime to proliferation financing

The Bill explicitly brings countering proliferation financing (CPF) within the scope of the financial-crime framework. It inserts a new definition of “proliferation financing” into section 2, adds proliferation financing risk to the definition of “specified risk” in section 6, and replaces the definitions of “AML/CFT authority” and “AML/CFT requirement” with the broader “AML/CFT/CPF authority” and “AML/CFT/CPF requirement” in section 17(1).

• Section 16 is amended so MAS may issue directions or make regulations for the prevention of proliferation financing, alongside money laundering and terrorism financing.
• Section 143(2) is amended so a licensee must appoint at least one person at its permanent place of business to respond to queries on countering proliferation financing.
• The Part 4 heading and several Division and Subdivision headings are updated to reflect the expanded scope.

Related amendments across the financial sector

The Bill makes consequential amendments to seven other statutes to replace “AML/CFT” with “AML/CFT/CPF” and to align definitions, affecting banks, insurers, fund managers and other regulated entities.

• Banking Act 1970, Financial Advisers Act 2001, Insurance Act 1966, Securities and Futures Act 2001 and Trust Companies Act 2005 — “AML/CFT” references replaced with “AML/CFT/CPF”.
• Financial Holding Companies Act 2013 — the reference to an “AML/CFT authority” is replaced with an “AML/CFT/CPF authority” as defined in section 17(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022.
• Variable Capital Companies Act 2018 — a new definition of “proliferation financing” is inserted and related “AML/CFT/CPF” amendments are made.

The Bill will come into operation on a date the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette. For banks, insurers and fund managers, the new TLAC powers and the widened financial-crime obligations signal tighter capital and compliance requirements, reinforcing Singapore’s position as a jurisdiction that holds its financial institutions to international resolvability and anti-financial-crime standards.

Source: Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, Bills Supplement No. 19, 8 September 2026 (official reference: Bill No. 19/2026).