A new government e-service will help financial institutions address compliance challenges and better assess fraud risks in trade financing.

The Trade Finance Compliance (TFC) service on the Networked Trade Platform was created by Singapore Customs, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and financial institutions to counter money laundering and terrorism financing.

It will help solve banks' inability to validate the underlying trade and the lack of reliable data to conduct price checks for non-commodity goods, Singapore Customs said.

The new service uses data derived from permits issued by Singapore Customs to allow financial institutions to reference the information to augment their checks for trade finance compliance.

Traders can give consent for their data to be shared directly with financial institutions of their choice.

BNP Paribas, DBS Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, MUFG Bank, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank have signed up for the service.

Ms Gillian Tan, executive director at MAS' financial markets development department, said: "By digitalising the trade finance compliance check process and directly referencing pricing and permit-related Customs data on Singapore imports and exports, the TFC will increase the efficiency and accuracy of trade finance compliance checks for financial institutions in Singapore."