Statute Details
- Title: Financial Services and Markets (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2023
- Act Code: FSMA2022-S238-2023
- Type: Subsidiary legislation (SL)
- Enacting Authority: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Authorising Act: Financial Services and Markets Act 2022
- Key Enabling Provisions: Section 192, read with sections 15(1)(b) and 219(d) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022
- Citation and commencement: Comes into operation on 28 April 2023
- Primary object: To assist in giving effect to UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014)
- Regulatory focus: Asset freezing obligations for designated persons connected to Yemen
- Key provisions in the extract: Regulations 1–8 (notably Regulations 5–6 and transitional Regulation 8)
- Status (as provided): Current version as at 27 Mar 2026
- Revocation: Revokes MAS (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2015 (G.N. No. S 109/2015)
What Is This Legislation About?
The Financial Services and Markets (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2023 (“Yemen Asset Freezing Regulations”) implement, in Singapore law, the United Nations Security Council’s targeted sanctions regime under Resolution 2140 (2014). In practical terms, the Regulations require financial institutions to freeze certain funds and other economic resources held in Singapore that are owned or controlled by “designated persons” listed by the UN Security Council or its relevant committee.
These Regulations are designed to prevent designated persons from accessing financial resources that could support activities of concern to the international community. The regime is “targeted” rather than broad-based: it focuses on specific individuals and entities appearing on the UN “List” and on funds and resources that are owned or controlled directly or indirectly by them.
Although the Regulations are framed around Yemen-related sanctions, the legal mechanism is general: once a person is designated via the UN List, Singapore financial institutions must act immediately to freeze relevant assets and must not make those assets available for the benefit of the designated person. The Regulations also create an information-reporting duty to enable MAS to monitor compliance and respond to changes in the UN List.
What Are the Key Provisions?
1. Commencement, object, and application (Regulations 1–3)
Regulation 1 provides the citation and commencement: the Regulations came into operation on 28 April 2023. Regulation 2 states the object: assisting in giving effect to UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014). Regulation 3 sets the scope: the Regulations apply to all financial institutions in Singapore. This broad application is significant for compliance planning, as it captures a wide range of regulated entities (for example, banks and other financial intermediaries) that may hold or process funds and financial assets.
2. Definitions and the “designated person” concept (Regulation 4)
Regulation 4 defines key terms, including “Committee”, “Resolution”, “UN List”, “funds”, and—most importantly—“designated person”. A “designated person” is an individual or entity set out in the UN List, subject to specified conditions.
The Regulations also address how designation status changes over time. Under Regulation 4(2), if a person is added to the UN List on or after 28 April 2023, they are treated as a designated person with effect from the date immediately following the addition. Conversely, if removed, the person ceases to be designated from the date of removal. If particulars are modified, the modification takes effect from the date immediately following the modification. This “automaticity” is crucial: it means institutions must monitor updates to the UN List and adjust compliance controls promptly.
3. Mandatory freezing and “not making available” prohibition (Regulation 5)
Regulation 5 is the core operative provision. Subject to limited exceptions in Regulation 5(3), any financial institution that has possession, custody or control in Singapore of any funds, other financial assets, or economic resources owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a designated person must do two things:
- (a) Immediately freeze all such funds, financial assets, or economic resources; and
- (b) Ensure they are not made available, whether directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the designated person.
Regulation 5(2) expands the reach beyond assets held directly by the designated person. It requires treatment of funds and resources held by (i) an entity owned or controlled (directly or indirectly) by a designated person, or (ii) an individual or entity acting on behalf of or under the direction of a designated person, as if they were owned or controlled by the designated person. This is a common feature of sanctions regimes: it targets indirect ownership and control structures.
4. Exceptions and permitted uses (Regulation 5(3) and (4))
Regulation 5(3) provides that the freezing requirement does not apply to certain funds/resources determined by MAS to be necessary for specified purposes. These carve-outs are narrow and require an MAS determination. The permitted categories include:
- Basic expenses, including foodstuff, rent, mortgage discharge, medicine, medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges;
- Exclusively for reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of expenses connected with legal services; and for routine holding/maintenance fees or service charges for frozen funds;
- Extraordinary expenses (again, subject to MAS determination); and
- Judicial, administrative or arbitral liens or judgments, where the lien/judgment arose or was entered before 26 February 2014 and is not for the benefit of a designated person. In such cases, the funds may be used to satisfy the lien/judgment, but only within those conditions.
Regulation 5(4) addresses operational realities: a financial institution may credit to an account frozen under Regulation 5(1) (a) interest or other earnings due on the account, or (b) payments due under contracts/agreements/obligations that arose before 6 March 2015. However, the Regulation makes clear that such interest/earnings/payments remain subject to the freezing obligation (i.e., they cannot be released to the designated person).
5. Duty to provide information (Regulation 6)
Regulation 6 imposes an immediate reporting obligation. Every financial institution that either (a) has possession, custody or control in Singapore of relevant funds/resources owned or controlled by a designated person, or (b) has information about any transaction or proposed transaction involving such funds/resources, must immediately inform MAS and provide any further information MAS may require.
For practitioners, the key compliance implication is that reporting is not limited to completed transactions. It extends to proposed transactions, which means institutions must integrate sanctions screening into transaction initiation workflows and escalation processes.
6. Revocation and transitional continuity (Regulations 7–8)
Regulation 7 revokes the earlier MAS (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2015 (G.N. No. S 109/2015). Regulation 8 then preserves continuity:
- Frozen assets under the revoked Regulations are treated as frozen under Regulation 5(1) of the 2023 Regulations;
- MAS determinations made under the revoked Regulation 5(3) and in force immediately before 28 April 2023 are treated as determinations under the new Regulation 5(3); and
- Information provided under the revoked Regulation 6 is treated as having been provided under the new Regulation 6, including any ongoing requirement for further information.
This transitional design reduces regulatory disruption and avoids rework for institutions already operating under the 2015 framework.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are concise and follow a functional structure:
- Regulation 1: Citation and commencement (28 April 2023).
- Regulation 2: Object (implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014)).
- Regulation 3: Application (all financial institutions in Singapore).
- Regulation 4: Definitions, including “designated person” and the effect of additions/removals/modifications to the UN List.
- Regulation 5: Freezing of assets of designated persons, including indirect ownership/control and exceptions (basic expenses, professional/legal fees, extraordinary expenses, and certain pre-2014 liens/judgments), plus permitted crediting of interest/earnings and pre-2015 contract payments.
- Regulation 6: Duty to provide information to MAS, including for proposed transactions.
- Regulation 7: Revocation of the 2015 Regulations.
- Regulation 8: Saving and transitional provisions to preserve existing freezes, determinations, and information reporting.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
Regulation 3 applies the Regulations to all financial institutions in Singapore. From a legal and compliance perspective, this is not limited to a specific licensing category in the text provided; instead, it captures any entity that qualifies as a “financial institution” under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 framework (as interpreted in Singapore’s regulatory architecture). Practitioners should therefore map the definition in the parent Act to identify all in-scope entities.
The obligations in Regulations 5 and 6 attach based on operational control: if a financial institution has possession, custody, or control in Singapore of relevant assets, or has information about relevant transactions/proposed transactions, it must freeze and report. The “possession, custody or control” trigger is therefore practical and fact-sensitive, and compliance teams should ensure their systems can identify when assets are held or controlled within Singapore.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Regulations is important because it operationalises UN targeted sanctions through binding Singapore obligations. The immediate-freeze requirement and the prohibition on making assets available create a high compliance standard: once a person is designated, institutions must act quickly and prevent access to funds and economic resources.
From an enforcement and risk perspective, the Regulations also embed two features that materially affect day-to-day operations. First, the indirect ownership/control concept (Regulation 5(2)) means that institutions must look beyond direct account holders and consider corporate structures and agency relationships. Second, the reporting duty covers both completed and proposed transactions (Regulation 6), requiring institutions to implement sanctions screening early in the transaction lifecycle and to escalate potential matches promptly to MAS.
Finally, the transitional provisions (Regulation 8) ensure continuity from the 2015 regime. For practitioners advising on compliance programmes, this means that existing freezes, MAS determinations, and prior reporting should generally carry forward without restarting the process—though institutions should still verify that their internal controls align with the 2023 text and with current UN List updates.
Related Legislation
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (authorising Act; relevant provisions include sections 192, 15(1)(b), and 219(d))
- Markets Act 2022 (listed in the provided metadata as related legislation)
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Financial Services and Markets (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2023 for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.