Singapore cryptocurrency firms facing bank account closures

SINGAPORE: Singapore banks have closed accounts of several companies which specialise in providing cryptocurrency and payments services, according to two local bodies which represent financial-technology (fintech) firms.

Noting that cryptocurrency firms have had similar problems with their banks in other countries, the head of Singapore’s Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Industry Association, or Access, asked the government to step in.

“From our analysis, it appears to be common among leading fintech hubs,” Access chairman Anson Zeall said in an e-mailed statement. “If this is the case, we would urge Singapore to take a leadership role and demonstrate how to come to an effective resolution among all parties.”

Zeall said his organisation had heard from 10 companies which had encountered problems with their banking relationships in Singapore.

The banks didn’t give a reason for their action, Zeall added.

The complaints illustrate some of the difficulties faced by cryptocurrency firms at a time when the sector is under growing scrutiny around the world.

China has said it would halt exchange trading of cryptocurrencies by the end of September. JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer Jamie Dimon recently described the cryptocurrency bitcoin as a fraud and said he would fire any employee trading it for being “stupid.”

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, said in a statement that it didn’t interfere with commercial decisions taken by banks “including those in relation to the establishment and termination of business relationships.”

Banks are expected to establish suitable procedures and controls, including those governing customer transactions and relationships, and to comply with customer due diligence requirements of MAS rules on preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the statement added.

Chia Hock Lai, president of the Singapore Fintech Association, which has broader membership than Access, said some of his organisation’s members also experienced account closures, though he didn’t provide figures.

Neither organisation named the banks which had closed their member firms’ accounts, but Access said the action had been taken by a “range of financial institutions.”

Access has 106 members and the Fintech Association has 185, though the two organisations said some companies belong to both groups.

One local cryptocurrency-related firm, CoinHako, said in a blog post earlier this month that its bank account had been closed by DBS Group Holdings Ltd, South-East Asia’s largest bank. — Bloomberg