Manipulation of financial benchmarks should be a crime: MAS

Trade scandals are becoming more rampant.

What should be used as a tool to assess competitiveness and ways to improve has become a way for some firms to make it appear like they’re doing good.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced amendments and new proposals to regulate financial benchmarks.

According to MAS, it will make the manipulation of financial benchmarks a civil and criminal offence to enhance the integrity of benchmarks set in Singapore.

The new proposals and amendments also include requiring administrators and submitters of systemically important benchmark rates to become licenced.

Reuters reveals that MAS censured a record of 20 banks after it found that more than 100 traders in the city-state tried to rig key borrowing and currency rates.