Letter
Letter: MAS can do more when renewing bank licences
A reader expresses concern over frequent banking system outages in Singapore, questioning the supervision of remote backend processes and the effectiveness of MAS’s regulatory actions.
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by Gilbert Tan
It is most disappointing to note that our local and foreign domiciled banks continue to have outages in their computer systems regularly or almost on a fortnightly basis.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) should disallow our local and foreign-domiciled banks to appoint or engage contractors to do their backend work.
While it may be cost effective to contract or engage remote systems in far away places to carry out the backend processing work, how do DBS and Citibank ensure the integrity of our local ATMs and online services?
How are these contractors supervised?
Do you have a locally appointed personnel or team of professionals supervising the work of the contractors or are they left alone with all our confidential data including the more sensitive records of our political leaders?
Remote systems located in foreign countries are also subject to foreign political and third-party rules and regulations which may be alien to us.
It is time for MAS to disallow such practices when renewing their banking licenses. If at all allowed, these backend systems should sit in our own backyard.
If it is extraneously to do so, then the system should reside in a locally-owned building or site adequately protected and safeguarded from outside influence or interference.
MAS seems to resort to imposing supervisory actions on the banks but are these actions effective since there were a number of outages recently.
Moreover, where did these fines amounting to hundreds of thousand of dollars come from?
When a driver commits a traffic violation, he pays it out of his own pocket, not his employer’s pocket, even for a vocational driver. So, who pays the fines imposed by MAS?
It is morally wrong if shareholders have to bear the brunt of this malfeasance on behalf of bank officials.
The letter above was submitted by a reader via our submission form and reflects the individual’s views. It does not necessarily represent the position of Gutzy’s editorial team.
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It’s absurd to suggest to them to do more when it’s their prerogative doing more, since they are fully aware they are highly paid, and central to their responsibility.
Excuses after excuses. Ownself EXONERATE Ownself EVEN PRAISING their screwed up SOPs SEVE THEM well even as vouched for by their colleagues of COI.
What can be seen after countless of hiccups, stoppages disasters when the large public is so inconvenienced, apparently they are running on empty – empty in the full and complete senses one’s mind can conjure what shit they are good at.
The bigger the organisation, the larger the pool and multilayered number of “fall guys” available, … to blame and/or take the blame !!!
That’s the nature of survival and continued protection and longevity, … of those at the highest levels of these organisations !!!
In relation to costs, … if others to include shareholders or the paying public, let them pay for it, especially if they know no different or better !!!
Politics has no morals. It just pretends to have them. PAP is extremely agile on all things ethical and moral. They are also extremely agile on all things money It does not end there either. They are extremely good at thumping down critics and oppositions. Remember, they audit themselves and proclaim their integrity to be intact. They award themselves multiple accolades too. If the situation warrants, they will quote other countries’ rules, standards etc. They have never lost any election either. Losing GRCs is of no consequence as they will always have control in Parliament. The design is such. Top… Read more »