SINGAPORE - The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced it has issued four-year prohibition orders against former Credit Suisse banker Lim Fang Wee for "dishonest conduct", effective April 30, 2018.

In a media statement, the MAS said that Lim, as a former representative of Credit Suisse AG's Singapore branch, had deliberately concealed the identities of the true beneficial owners of three Credit Suisse accounts from the bank, making it difficult for Credit Suisse to monitor and detect suspicious transactions.

Lim was responsible for servicing these three accounts and was aware that the individuals listed as beneficial owners in the bank's records were in fact nominees.

The orders levelled against Lim prohibit him from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and any financial advisory service under the Financial Advisers Act (FAA). In addition, he cannot join the management, act as a director or become a substantial shareholder of any capital market services firm under the SFA and any financial advisory firm under the FAA.

Lee Boon Ngiap, assistant managing director of capital markets at the MAS, said that finance professionals who engage in dishonest conduct to frustrate the detection of such suspicious transactions "must be dealt with firmly".

"This is necessary to safeguard public trust in our financial institutions and Singapore's reputation as a clean financial centre," Mr Lee said.