The lawyer's position

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Lawyers in Singapore are not exempt from s. 45. The duty applies to knowledge acquired in the course of a profession, of which the profession of law is no exception. The CDSA does, however, preserve legal professional privilege: an advocate and solicitor is not required to disclose information that is subject to privilege.¹ The boundary is the one familiar from English law. A communication made to the lawyer for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, or in connection with litigation, is privileged and need not be reported. Information that the lawyer acquires while acting as a transactional agent, for example while handling funds or forming companies, is not privileged merely because a lawyer received it. And a communication made in furtherance of a criminal purpose is never privileged.

The Legal Profession (Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism) Rules 2015 add a regulated layer. Law practices must conduct CDD when they prepare for or carry out specified transactions for clients. The specified transactions include the buying and selling of real estate, the management of client money, securities or other assets, the organisation of contributions for the creation of companies and the creation, operation or management of legal persons or arrangements.² The Rules do not create a separate reporting duty, since s. 45 CDSA already supplies one, but they require the law practice to have a compliance structure that enables reporting and to keep records. A Singapore lawyer who structures a DAO foundation, holds token sale proceeds in a client account or sets up a VCC for a digital-asset fund is squarely within the Rules.

In my practice the question that arises most often is the one about advice. A client comes for advice on whether a past transaction was lawful. The facts suggest it was not. The communication is privileged, the advice may be given and no report is due. The same client then asks the lawyer to receive and hold the proceeds. The lawyer who does so has stepped out of the privileged zone into the transactional one, has acquired knowledge in the course of business, and has a reporting duty and a possible s. 51 exposure for assisting another to retain benefits of criminal conduct. The line is between advising and acting.

Cross-border perspective

A Swiss lawyer in Zug and a Singapore solicitor handling the same matter face different reporting duties. The Swiss lawyer is subject to the AMLA only when acting as a financial intermediary, for example when holding client funds in the course of a transaction. The Swiss reporting duty under Art. 9 AMLA applies only to that activity. Pure legal advice, including on company formation, remained outside the Swiss duty at the state-of-law date, pending the 2024–2026 reform discussed in Part F, Chapter VI. The Singapore solicitor is subject to s. 45 CDSA for any knowledge acquired in the course of the profession that is not privileged, and to the 2015 Rules for the specified transactions. A Swiss–Singapore team must therefore decide at the outset which lawyer handles funds and company formation, since that lawyer carries the heavier duty, and must ensure that privileged communications stay with the lawyer whose privilege protects them.

Notes

CDSA 1992, s. 45, proviso on privileged communications of advocates and solicitors; Evidence Act 1893, ss. 128 and 131 on legal professional privilege. ↩
Legal Profession (Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism) Rules 2015, rr. 4–18, made under the Legal Profession Act 1966; Law Society of Singapore, Practice Direction on the Rules and Guidance Notes. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

All Singapore law advice is provided through KGP Legal LLC, an established and duly licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors.

KGP Legal LLC is a medium-sized law firm in Singapore that is capable of providing the full range of legal services and corporate administration work. Please contact me if you need any further information.

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SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

If you are planning a company incorporation, an investment, a holding structure or a market entry through Singapore, you can reach Dr Ressos directly at [email protected]. Singapore law advice is provided by KGP Legal LLC, a licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors. Dr Ressos and his team facilitate the full range of Singapore legal, compliance and company administration services, including company incorporation, corporate transactions, commercial contracts, crypto and digital assets, financial regulatory work and dispute resolution, including litigation in the Singapore courts. For Hong Kong, our parallel site HongkongIQ.com offers the same practical guidance. For crypto and digital assets, dltreg.com covers legal, tax and fiduciary services. For legal, tax and fiduciary services in Switzerland, see helveticaregister.com.