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
- Status: Current version as at 27 March 2026
- Primary subject matter: Asset freezing obligations for “designated persons” under UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014) (Yemen-related measures)
- Key sections: Section 4 (definitions), Section 5 (freezing and non-availability), Section 6 (information duties), Section 7 (revocation), Section 8 (saving/transitional)
What Is This Legislation About?
The Financial Services and Markets (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2023 (“Yemen Asset Freezing Regulations”) are Singapore’s domestic legal mechanism for implementing a targeted sanctions regime under the United Nations framework. In particular, the Regulations are designed to give effect to UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014), which established measures relating to individuals and entities associated with the situation in Yemen.
In practical terms, the Regulations require financial institutions in Singapore to freeze funds and other economic resources belonging to, or controlled by, persons listed by the UN Security Council or its relevant committee. They also impose a prohibition on making frozen assets available—directly or indirectly—to or for the benefit of those designated persons. This is a classic “targeted asset freeze” model: it is not a general ban on doing business with a country, but a compliance obligation tied to specific listed individuals and entities.
The Regulations sit within Singapore’s broader financial compliance architecture under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022. While the Regulations are narrow in scope (Yemen-related persons under Resolution 2140), they are operationally significant because they create immediate, institution-level duties that must be embedded into screening, account management, transaction monitoring, and sanctions governance.
What Are the Key Provisions?
1. Object and application (Sections 2 and 3)
Section 2 states the object: to assist in giving effect to UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014). Section 3 provides the scope: the Regulations apply to all financial institutions in Singapore. For practitioners, this “all financial institutions” language is important because it reduces room for argument that a particular regulated entity is outside the sanctions perimeter. The compliance obligation is therefore broad across the financial sector.
2. Definitions and the “designated person” concept (Section 4)
Section 4 defines the key terms. The Regulations rely heavily on the UN listing process. The “Committee” is the UN Security Council Committee established under paragraph 19 of Resolution 2140 (2014). The “UN List” is the list of individuals or entities identified by the Security Council or the Committee as subject to the measures in paragraph 11 of Resolution 2140 (2014), updated over time and made available through the official UN website.
The most operational definition is “designated person”, which is an individual or entity set out in the UN List, subject to specific conditions in Section 4(2). Those conditions address how listing changes affect designation status:
- Additions to the UN List on or after 28 April 2023 take effect immediately from the date immediately following the addition.
- cease to be designated persons from the date of removal.
- to particulars take effect from the date immediately following the modification.
This “date immediately following” approach matters for compliance timing—institutions must ensure their sanctions screening and freeze actions are aligned with the effective dates under the Regulations, not merely the date a list entry appears online.
3. Asset freezing and non-availability obligations (Section 5)
Section 5 is the core operative provision. Under Section 5(1), subject to Section 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:
- Immediately freeze all such funds/assets/resources; and
- Ensure they are not made available, whether directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of the designated person.
The breadth of “funds” is also notable: it includes cheques, bank deposits and other financial resources. “Economic resources” is not exhaustively defined in the extract, but the structure indicates a wide net covering assets that can be used to obtain funds, goods or services.
Section 5(2) expands the reach beyond direct ownership. It provides that funds/assets/resources held by:
- an entity owned or controlled (directly or indirectly) by a designated person; or
- an individual or entity who acts on behalf of or under the direction of a designated person,
are to be treated as owned or controlled by the designated person. This is a key anti-circumvention feature: institutions must look through intermediaries and agents.
Exemptions and permitted uses (Section 5(3))
Section 5(3) creates important carve-outs where the freezing requirement does not apply, but only where the Authority (MAS) has determined the relevant funds/assets/resources are necessary for specified purposes. The carve-outs include:
- Basic expenses, including foodstuff, rent, mortgage discharge, medicine, medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums and public utility charges.
- Exclusively:
- reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of expenses for legal services; or
- fees/service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds/assets/resources.
- Extraordinary expenses (with MAS determination).
- 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.
For counsel advising financial institutions, the practical takeaway is that these are not automatic exceptions. They require MAS determination, meaning institutions should have a process for applying for authorisations/confirmations where a payment is proposed within the categories above.
Interest, earnings and pre-existing contractual payments (Section 5(4))
Section 5(4) allows a financial institution to credit to an account frozen under Section 5(1):
- interest or other earnings due on the account; or
- payments due under any contract, agreement or obligation that arose before 6 March 2015,
but it emphasises that such interest/earnings/payments are still subject to the freezing and non-availability requirements in Section 5(1). In other words, crediting may be permitted operationally, but the institution must ensure the credited amounts are not released to the designated person.
4. Duty to provide information (Section 6)
Section 6 imposes an immediate information duty. Every financial institution that:
- has possession, custody or control in Singapore of funds/assets/resources owned or controlled by a designated person; or
- has information about any transaction or proposed transaction involving such funds/assets/resources,
must immediately inform MAS and provide further information that MAS may require. This provision is crucial for enforcement and for MAS’s ability to assess whether exemptions under Section 5(3) should be granted, and to monitor compliance.
From a legal risk perspective, “immediately” is a high standard. Practitioners typically translate this into an internal sanctions escalation timeline (for example, same-day notification for confirmed matches, and rapid escalation for pending/uncertain matches). While the Regulations do not prescribe a specific number of hours, the duty’s wording supports prompt action.
5. Revocation and transitional treatment (Sections 7 and 8)
Section 7 revokes the earlier MAS Regulations: Monetary Authority of Singapore (Freezing of Assets of Persons — Yemen) Regulations 2015 (G.N. No. S 109/2015). Section 8 then provides saving and transitional provisions to ensure continuity:
- Any funds/assets/resources frozen under the revoked Regulations are treated as frozen under Section 5(1) of the 2023 Regulations.
- Any MAS determination under the revoked Regulations under Section 5(3) that was in force immediately before 28 April 2023 is treated as a determination under the 2023 Regulations.
- Information provided under the revoked Regulations under Section 6 is treated as having been provided under Section 6 of the 2023 Regulations, and any further information requirement is treated similarly.
This is designed to prevent gaps in compliance and to avoid re-notification or re-application where MAS had already made determinations or where information flows were already established.
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Regulations are structured as a short, operational instrument with eight sections:
- Section 1: Citation and commencement (28 April 2023).
- Section 2: Object (implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2140 (2014)).
- Section 3: Application (all financial institutions in Singapore).
- Section 4: Definitions, including the “designated person” concept and how UN List changes affect designation status.
- Section 5: Freezing of assets and prohibition on making them available; includes exemptions and permitted operational credits.
- Section 6: Duty to provide information to MAS.
- Section 7: Revocation of the 2015 Yemen freezing regulations.
- Section 8: Saving and transitional provisions to preserve existing freezes, determinations, and information submissions.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
Section 3 states that the Regulations apply to all financial institutions in Singapore. In practice, this typically includes banks, financial intermediaries, and other entities regulated within Singapore’s financial regulatory perimeter. The obligation is triggered by whether the institution has possession, custody or control in Singapore over relevant assets, or whether it has information about relevant transactions.
Accordingly, the compliance burden is not limited to institutions that directly hold accounts of designated persons. It extends to institutions that may hold assets through corporate structures (entities owned/controlled by designated persons) or through agents acting on behalf of or under the direction of designated persons (Section 5(2)). Legal advisers should therefore ensure that sanctions screening and escalation procedures cover beneficial ownership and agency relationships, not only direct customer names.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
Targeted asset freezing regulations are among the most operationally demanding sanctions instruments because they require immediate action and continuous monitoring. Under Section 5(1), once a person is designated, financial institutions must freeze relevant assets and prevent availability to the designated person. This creates a direct link between UN listing updates and real-world account handling in Singapore.
For practitioners, the Regulations’ value lies in their clarity on (i) what must be frozen, (ii) when the obligation is triggered, and (iii) the limited circumstances in which MAS may permit otherwise prohibited payments. The exemptions in Section 5(3) are particularly important: they provide a legal pathway for essential expenses, legal/professional fees, and certain extraordinary expenses, but only after MAS determination. This helps institutions manage humanitarian and legal process needs without undermining the sanctions objective.
Finally, the information duty in Section 6 underpins enforcement. MAS’s ability to supervise compliance and to process exemption requests depends on timely notifications. Counsel should therefore treat sanctions compliance not only as a “freeze” obligation but also as a reporting and governance obligation, supported by internal controls, audit trails, and documented decision-making.
Related Legislation
- Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 (authorising framework for MAS to make sanctions-related regulations)
- Markets Act 2022 (noting the metadata reference; practitioners should confirm the precise legislative linkage in the MAS legislative history)
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.