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<\/p>\nSINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore must be willing to take some risks to capture new opportunities in the burgeoning wealth management sector.<\/p>\n
This was the thrust of a doorstop interview given on July 9 by Mr Chee Hong Tat, deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). <\/p>\n
He told the media after a visit to DBS Bank that Singapore must be willing to take some risks even as it strives to maintain high standards and be a convenient and trusted financial centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we talk about risk, we take a risk-proportionate approach and not zero-risk approach because if we are overly \u2018kiasu\u2019, I think we would not be able to capture new opportunities,\u201d he said, using the local lingo that refers to a grasping attitude arising from a fear of missing out on something.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there is a need for us to strike a balance and go for high standards but a risk-proportionate approach, not a zero-risk approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Chee, who is also Minister for National Development, was speaking after his visit to DBS, where he met the bank\u2019s chief investment officer for consumer banking and wealth management, Mr Hou Wey Fook, and several relationship managers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minister for National Development and MAS deputy chairman Chee Hong Tat (centre) meeting DBS senior executives and private bankers at DBS Bank on July 9.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG<\/p>\n
He said the two goals of wanting to maintain high standards in the sector on the one hand, and making sure processes are efficient and convenient for customers on the other are not mutually exclusive. <\/p>\n
MAS has been working closely with industry partners to see how it can strike a good balance between the two different objectives and to continue to improve processes.<\/p>\n
The financial regulator has cut the time taken for family offices to apply for tax incentives to \u201cwithin three months\u201d from 12 months previously, Mr Chee noted.<\/p>\n
MAS is also working with private banks to see how it can further cut the time taken for customers to set up and open accounts, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will still have to do the necessary checks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Mr Chee said MAS will work with the industry to provide greater clarity in terms of what the regulator wants banks and relationship managers should focus on to avoid second-guessing and delaying the opening of customers\u2019 accounts. <\/p>\n
MAS is also working with other government agencies, including the EDB, to help high-net-worth individuals seeking to come to Singapore to bring more of their investments here.<\/p>\n
This \u201cwhole-government approach\u201d could see Singapore helping the super-rich set up new companies and operations here, invest in companies, potentially list on the Singapore Exchange, and more as they see the Republic as \u201ca trusted, stable place where they can make long-term plans\u201d, Mr Chee said. <\/p>\n