'830,000-won' Singapore Dollar to Cease Issuance Starting Next Year

1000 Singapore Dollars No Longer Issued
MAS Decides to Minimize Risks of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing

[Asia Economy Singapore Correspondent Su-mi Seo] The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will stop issuing 1000 Singapore dollar banknotes (approximately 830,000 KRW) starting January next year to minimize risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. The decline in the use of high-denomination bills is largely due to the spread of electronic payments. However, commercial banks will still accept existing 1000-dollar bills on deposit, and individuals can continue to use currently circulating 1000-dollar notes as a payment method.

According to local media such as The Straits Times on the 10th, MAS recently announced the discontinuation of issuing 1000 Singapore dollar notes. MAS explained that the reason for stopping issuance is that high-denomination bills are more likely to be used for illegal activities such as money laundering, but it is assessed that the spread of electronic payments has had a greater impact than cash usage.

In this regard, cash usage in Singapore has decreased this year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The largest commercial bank in Singapore, DBS, reported that cash withdrawals and deposits in the first quarter decreased by 11% compared to the same period last year. Cash transactions in Singapore have decreased by an average of 5% annually since 2017, but this year the decline has been even greater. In particular, the 1000 Singapore dollar note is considered burdensome to carry because it is a high-denomination bill. According to MAS, about 26 million 1000 Singapore dollar notes are currently in circulation in Singapore.

High-denomination bills are targeted by the Central Bank of Singapore because they can be easily used for crimes. Recently, Singapore banks have strengthened monitoring of money laundering using paper companies.

According to MAS’s recently released implementation report, from January 2019 to June 2020, fines totaling 11.7 million Singapore dollars were imposed for financial violations within Singapore, and fines of 3.3 million Singapore dollars were levied for violations of anti-money laundering controls.

A MAS official stated that if abnormally large amounts are transferred through paper companies or if transactions proceed at an excessively fast pace, illegal transactions should be suspected.

The Monetary Authority also stopped issuing 10,000 Singapore dollar (approximately 8.35 million KRW) banknotes in 2014.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.