Parliament passes Banking (Amendment) Bill 2006: Towards a more responsive regulatory framework for the Singapore banking sector

On 22 January 2007, the Banking (Amendment) Bill 2006 (the ‘Bill’) was passed in Parliament. The Bill was introduced on 8 November 2006 after a public consultation exercise in July/August 2006.

Prawiro Widjaja, Allen & Gledhill, prawiro@allenandgledhill.com

Background

The enactment of the Bill will give effect to several new policies and measures to strengthen prudential safeguards, facilitate risk-based supervision, provide banks with greater operational flexibility, and update regulations. The Bill is part of an ongoing process, embarked upon by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the MAS), to enhance the robustness and responsiveness of the banking regulatory framework, in tandem with the growth in scope and sophistication of the activities of banks in Singapore.