TSMP Law Corporation joint managing partner Stefanie Yuen Thio was quoted by the Lianhe Zaobao in a 22 July 2020 story on MAS’s consultation paper on the New Omnibus Act for the financial sector.

She said that right now, the laws and regulations governing specific types of business entities are set out in different statutes – the Securities and Futures Act and Financial Advisers Act for some, the Insurance Act for others. These statutes cater to more traditional models of conducting those types of financial businesses. Having an Omnibus Act that allows the regulators to scan the regulatory horizon in one sweep, and take nimble action to protect the public and the Singapore market, will be a plus.

She also pointed out that a big challenge is dealing with the multi-jurisdictional nature of digital tokens and virtual assets. These are not physical assets and companies can base the different operational functions across multiple countries. That makes it hard for any specific country to police regulations and protect the public.

And, of course, anti money-laundering is clearly a centerpiece in the Act, with an expanded scope of regulating, for AML purposes, people providing digital token services even if done overseas. With the world embracing a cashless modus operandi (especially with Covid), there will be an increased acceptance of virtual currency and online payments, which means that the risk of money-laundering goes up.

In the original Chinese text:

义正律师事务所（TSMP Law）联合主管合伙人张祉盈说，目前监 管不同金融机构的条规来自不同的法令，这更适合传统的金融业务， 设立综合法令可让监管当局更灵活地采取行动，保护公众的利益和本 地市场。

她指出，数码代币和虚拟资产的一大挑战是跨司法管辖区的性质 ，业者可把不同的业务设立在不同国家市场，导致个别国家地区的监 管更困难。随着虚拟货币和网上支付更普及，洗黑钱的风险提高了， 因此反洗黑钱也是这个法令的重点。