By NewsGram Staff Writer
Singapore will no longer share information related to money laundering or related cases voluntarily, taxes official from Singapore said on Saturday.
The decision comes after the Singapore’s Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) took displeasure to reports of alleged overseas bank accounts of Congress leader and industrialist, Naveen Jindal, which appeared in the Indian media.
Equivalent of India’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the STRO had shared the information on the Jindals without any reference from India.
The Singapore authorities have made it known that the breach of confidentiality vitiates the information collaboration arrangement on anti-money laundering among the FIUs, known as the Egmont group of which, both India and the island nation are part of.
The refusal of Singapore could prove costly, as the nation has emerged as an international financial hub to track money into and out of India.
The development comes at a time when there have been discussions on the propriety of India sharing information from countries such as Switzerland and United States.
The freedom of sleuths tracking economic offences has been crippled as a result of the stiff position adopted by Singapore.