The private banking industry has been on tenterhooks waiting for the Monetary Authority of Singapore to act; a few weeks ago, the watchdog said its investigations around Malaysia-linked transactions had unearthed failings at Falcon, as well as UBS, DBS and Falcon might, in happier circumstances, have been a suitor.

Falcon, which is owned by UAE-based International Petroleum Investment Company, joins a number of foreign-owned banks that in very different circumstances have shipped out of Singapore. Societe Generale and Barclays sold their Singapore-based private banks to local players; BSI has been told to leave the city-state and now Falcon has had to do the same. Despite all those comments about the ascent of wealth in Asia, the region has not proved a happy hunting ground for some foreign banks, and in the case of BSI and Falcon, they have the unenviable reputation of being shown the door for regulatory lapses.

There can be little doubt that the war against illicit money is not going away and the sooner that banks and other financial players live up to their commitments to run compliant businesses, the better.