SINGAPORE BOOTS OUT SCANDAL - HIT SWISS BANK

Singapore's central bank on Tuesday said it was kicking out Swiss bank BSI, which has been linked to a global money-laundering scandal at Malaysia's state fund 1MDB that has embroiled Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In a statement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it had also asked state prosecutors to investigate six senior executives of BSI Bank Limited, including its former chief executive, for possible criminal offences.

Two Singaporean executives of the bank are already facing charges in the city-state, which is Southeast Asia's financial hub.

The MAS said it has served BSI Bank with a "notice of intention to withdraw its status as a merchant bank in Singapore for serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank's operations, and gross misconduct by some of the bank's staff".

It is the first time the MAS has cancelled the licence of a merchant bank since 1984, when the local branch of Jardine Fleming was shut down for "serious lapses" in its advisory work, the statement said.