PART 1 | Citation and commencement |
| 1. These Regulations are the Estate Agents (Prevention of Money Laundering, Proliferation Financing and Terrorism Financing) Regulations 2021 and come into operation on 30 July 2021. [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —“beneficial owner”, in relation to an entity or a legal arrangement, means —| (a) | an individual who ultimately owns or controls the entity or legal arrangement; | | (b) | an individual who exercises ultimate effective control over the entity or legal arrangement; or | | (c) | an individual on whose behalf the entity or legal arrangement carries out any transaction with a licensed estate agent or registered salesperson; |
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“close associate”, in relation to a politically‑exposed person, means an individual who is known to be closely connected to the politically‑exposed person, either socially or professionally, such as, but not limited to —| (a) | a partner of the politically‑exposed person; | | (b) | a person accustomed or under an obligation, whether formal or informal, to act in accordance with the directions, instructions or wishes of the politically‑exposed person; | | (c) | a person whose directions, instructions or wishes the politically‑exposed person is accustomed or under an obligation, whether formal or informal, to act in accordance with; or | | (d) | a person with whom the politically‑exposed person has an agreement or arrangement, whether oral or in writing, and whether express or implied, to act together; |
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| [Deleted by S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
| “countermeasure” means a measure to prevent, or to facilitate the prevention of, money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing; [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
“designated officer”, in relation to a licensed estate agent, means —| (a) | in the case of a licensed estate agent that is a body corporate — a director, partner, member of a management committee or manager of the licensed estate agent; | | (b) | in the case of a licensed estate agent that is a partnership — a partner of the licensed estate agent; | | (c) | the chief executive officer or the key executive officer of the licensed estate agent; or | | (d) | any other officer of the licensed estate agent who has been duly authorised by the licensed estate agent to grant approvals under regulation 6(3)(a); [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
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| “entity” means a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited partnership, a limited liability partnership, a corporation sole, a company or any other association or body of persons corporate or unincorporate; |
| “family member”, in relation to a politically‑exposed person, means a spouse, a child, an adopted child or a stepchild, a sibling, an adopted sibling or a stepsibling, or a parent or a step‑parent of the politically‑exposed person; |
| “FATF” means the intergovernmental body known as the Financial Action Task Force; |
| “foreign politically‑exposed person” means an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function in a country or territory other than Singapore; |
“identifying information” means all of the following information:| (a) | full name; | | (b) | date of birth, for an individual; | | (c) | nationality, for an individual, or place of incorporation, registration or formation, for a body corporate or unincorporate; | | (d) | identification number, which must be —| (i) | for an individual — an identity card number, a passport number, or the number of any other document of identity issued by a government as evidence of the individual’s nationality or residence and bearing a photograph of the individual; or | | (ii) | for a body corporate or unincorporate — a registration number, or the number of any other document, issued by any government certifying the incorporation, registration or existence of the body corporate or unincorporate; |
| | (e) | the type of identifying document mentioned in paragraph (d); | | (f) | occupation, for an individual, or business, for a body corporate or unincorporate; |
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| “legal arrangement” includes any express trust or other similar legal arrangement; |
“politically‑exposed person” means —| (a) | an individual who is or has been entrusted with any prominent public function in Singapore; | | (b) | a foreign politically‑exposed person; or | | (c) | an individual who is or has been entrusted with any prominent function by an international organisation; |
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| “prominent function”, in relation to an international organisation, means the role held by a member of the senior management of the international organisation (including a director, deputy director or member of a board of the international organisation, or an equivalent appointment in the international organisation), and does not include the role held by middle‑ranking or more junior officials; |
| “prominent public function” includes the role held by a head of state, a head of government, a government minister, a senior politician, a senior civil or public servant, a senior government, judicial or military official, a senior executive of a state‑owned corporation, a senior political party official, or a member of the legislature; |
“responsible person”, in relation to any estate agency work carried out or to be carried out for a client of a licensed estate agent (including any estate agency work involving an unrepresented counterparty), means —| (a) | in a case where a registered salesperson has been authorised by the licensed estate agent to carry out the estate agency work for the licensed estate agent — the registered salesperson; or | | (b) | in any other case — the licensed estate agent; [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
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| “statutory board” means a body corporate or unincorporate established by or under any public Act to perform or discharge a public function; |
“suspicious transaction report” means a report by which a person discloses any knowledge or suspicion of, or information or matter relating to, money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing, using the electronic system provided by the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office for the purpose of enabling any of the following disclosures to be made:| (a) | a disclosure required under section 45(1) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992; | | (b) | information required to be disclosed under any regulations made under section 2(1) of the United Nations Act 2001; | | (c) | information required to be disclosed under section 8(1) or 10(1) of the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act 2002; [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
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| “Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office” means the office established by section 5 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992; [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
| “unrepresented counterparty”, in relation to an acquisition or disposition of a property for which a licensed estate agent or registered salesperson is doing estate agency work for a client, means a counterparty that is not represented by any licensed estate agent or registered salesperson in respect of the acquisition or disposition of that property. [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
| (2) In these Regulations, a person, transaction, legal arrangement or business relationship is taken to present a higher risk of money laundering, proliferation financing or terrorism financing if, in the circumstances, that risk is higher than the usual level of such risk presented by persons, transactions, legal arrangements or business relationships that a licensed estate agent or registered salesperson deals with in the ordinary course of business. [S 461/2025 wef 01/07/2025] |
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