Singapore must strike a balance between maintaining high standards and promoting efficiency within the wealth management sector, Minister for National Development and Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Chee Hong Tat said.

Speaking at a doorstop interview on Wednesday (July 9), Chee said that Singapore needs to take a "risk-proportionate approach" to capture new opportunities while remaining a "trusted financial sector".

He was speaking on the sidelines of a visit to DBS Bank headquarters, where he met with relationship managers to discuss the bank's plans to grow their wealth management business.

"We want to maintain high standards. At the same time, we also want to make it convenient and business friendly for our clients," Chee said, adding that the two objectives are not mutually exclusive.

He highlighted three of MAS' recent initiatives to boost efficiency within Singapore's wealth management sector, saying that MAS has been "working closely" with industry partners and financial institutions (FIs).

On the family office front, MAS successfully reduced the time taken to obtain tax incentives, which previously took "as long as 12 months". Now, most applications take only three months.

Additionally, MAS has worked with the private banking industry to "further reduce the time taken for their clients to set up accounts".

"We will still have to do the necessary checks, but what MAS will do, working with the industry, is to provide greater clarity in terms of what are some of the checks required," Chee said, adding that such clarifications will sped up processed by reducing the chances of "second guessing".

He also spoke about working with government agencies, like the Economic Development Board, to make Singapore a trusted financial centre where high net worth investors can make long-term plans amid the "current more uncertain global environment".

He also said that Singapore is "very used to competition between different financial sectors", in response to questions regarding competition from major financial hubs like Dubai and Hong Kong.

"We have seen a very healthy growth in our wealth management industry over the last five years," he said, citing how Singapore's Compound Annual Growth Rate has been consistently above eight per cent for the past five years.

"We continue to offer value to clients who want to come to Singapore, working closely with the industry, understanding what their needs are, and then bringing together different government agencies that can help to facilitate the families or the individuals who want to manage their wealth in Singapore, to invest in Singapore, or to list their companies on SGX," he said.

Chee also fielded a question regarding the MAS' imposition of penalties amounting to $27.45 million on nine FIs for anti-money laundering breaches last Friday (July 4), where there was a perception that a majority of the FIs targeted were international firms.

"When we deal with regulatory cases, MAS will assess fairly and objectively, the severity of the different offences, and to what extent the actions are required and the quantum of penalties," he responded, adding that local and international FIs are judged against the same standards.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com