自由港的大廳區域，此處是一個免稅機構。可供存放藝術品、酒、寶石、黃金與金條。
新加坡聖淘沙島上的一間賭場入口。該城市有兩座賭場，迎合來自亞洲各地的賭客們的需求。
新加坡——去年，臺灣裔美國人亨利·蕭(Henry Hsiaw)被控沒有提交納稅申報表，在此案中，美國執法官員向瑞士銀行瑞銀(UBS)施加了壓力。
SINGAPORE — Last year, American law enforcement officials pressed the Swiss bank UBS about Henry Hsiaw, a Taiwan-born American whom they accused of failing to file tax returns.
對於富人們來說，瑞士銀行曾經意味著最高級別的隱私，但如今世界已經發生了變化。瑞銀已支付了7.8億美元的罰款，並披露了數以千計由美國人持有的瑞士銀行帳戶的細節，其中就包括由亨利·蕭控制的一個帳戶。
The world has changed since the days when Swiss banks stood as the peak of privacy for the rich. Already, UBS had paid $780 million in fines and disclosed details of thousands of Swiss bank accounts held by Americans — including the records of one account controlled by Mr. Hsiaw.
不過，瑞銀沒有交出亨利·蕭在新加坡銀行的帳戶信息。瑞銀稱，這些信息受到這個亞洲城邦的銀行保密法保護。
Still, UBS balked at handing over information about Mr. Hsiaw’s account with the bank in Singapore. That information, it said, was protected under the Asian city-state’s bank secrecy laws.
對於不希望受到注意的金錢來說，新加坡是一個越來越受歡迎的目的地，而這一法律爭議表明該國正日益受到壓力。據諮詢公司波士頓諮詢集團(Boston Consulting Group)估計，該國嚴格的銀行保密法律已經吸引了1.1萬億美元的外國資金前來。新加坡現在的增長速度已經快於瑞士，該公司預計，到2028年，它將成為全球最大的跨國金融中心。
That courthouse dispute illustrates the growing pressures on Singapore, an increasingly popular destination for money that wants to stay under the radar. Tight bank secrecy laws have helped draw $1.1 trillion in foreign funds to the city, according to an estimate from Boston Consulting Group, a consulting firm. Singapore is now growing faster than Switzerland and is set to become the largest cross-border financial center in the world by 2028, the firm forecasts.
但面對國際社會打擊稅務欺詐的更多努力，以及國外對新加坡制止非法資金措施不力的投訴，新加坡已經採取行動，表明自己是在認真對待批評。它已經關押了若干本地和外國銀行家，關閉了兩家瑞士銀行的分行，它們的涉案金額超過30億美元，據稱是從馬來西亞主權財富基金一馬發展有限公司(1Malaysia Development Berhad，簡稱1MDB)挪用而來，其中一部分曾在新加坡的若干銀行內輾轉。
But in the face of growing international efforts to crack down on tax cheats, and complaints from abroad about its measures to stop illicit money, Singapore has made moves to show it takes the criticism seriously. It has jailed local and foreign bankers and closed down branches of two Swiss banks related to more than $3 billion that was said to have been siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, some of which moved through the city’s banks.
新加坡最高金融監管機構負責人拉維·梅農(Ravi Menon)表示，1MDB一案表明新加坡可以做得更好。「毫無疑問，最近的調查結果令我們作為一個廉潔可靠的金融中心的聲譽受到了損害，」梅農在7月份的演講中表示，他還補充說，在金融管控方面，當局「對於這些疏忽感到失望」。
Ravi Menon, chief of the city state’s top financial regulator, has said that 1MDB showed Singapore can do better. 「There is no doubt that the recent findings have made a dent in our reputation as a clean and trusted financial center,」 Mr. Menon said in a speech in July. The authority, he added, was 「disappointed with the lapses」 in financial controls.
新加坡報紙《海峽時報》(The Straits Times)在去年的一篇社論中就1MDB一案警告該市的銀行。「商業是新加坡DNA的一部分，」文章說，「但是為可疑交易提供便利的商業不在其中。」
The Straits Times, a Singaporean newspaper, cautioned the city’s banks over 1MDB in an editorial last year. 「Business is part of Singapore’s DNA,」 it said, 「but not the business of facilitating dubious deals.」
新加坡的立場說明了全球監管機構開始密切關注那些低調的錢。「金融行動特別工作組」(Financial Action Task Force)是一個為打擊洗錢而設立的多國諮詢小組，該組織於去年表示，新加坡的金融機構「對非法資金流入和流出新加坡的風險了解較少。」
Singapore’s position illustrates the new scrutiny global authorities are giving to quiet money. The Financial Action Task Force, a multicountry advisory group set up to combat money laundering, said last year that Singapore’s financial firms had 「a less developed understanding of the risk of illicit flows into and out of Singapore.」
「新加坡是新的瑞士，」生活在上海的獨立經濟學家謝國忠表示。謝國忠原本在摩根史坦利(Morgan Stanley)擔任首席亞洲經濟學家，2006年，在自己的一封稱新加坡為洗錢中心的私人郵件曝光後，他被公司解僱。
「Singapore is the new Switzerland,」 said Andy Xie, an independent economist based in Shanghai. Mr. Xie was fired as chief Asia economist at Morgan Stanley in 2006 after a private email he wrote calling Singapore a money laundering center became public.
他表示：「自從美國司法部幾年前開始追查瑞士銀行隱瞞避稅者之後，新加坡就填補了它留下的空白。」
「Since the U.S. Department of Justice went after Swiss banks for hiding tax dodgers years ago, Singapore has filled the role,」 he said.
新加坡最高金融監管機構新加坡金融管理局(The Monetary Authority of Singapore)對這一指控提出異議。「毫無疑問，快速發展的私人銀行湧入新加坡，會導致非法資金流動風險增加，」一位發言人在一份書面聲明中說。不過新加坡「不會容忍其金融系統被用作非法資金流動的避難所或渠道」。
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, its top financial regulator, disputed that allegation. 「There is no doubt some increased risk of illicit fund flows associated with the rapid growth of private banking flows into Singapore,」 a spokeswoman said in a written statement. Nevertheless, she said, Singapore 「will not tolerate its financial system being used as a refuge or conduit for illicit fund flows.」
新加坡已將自己定位為亞洲富人的一站式服務中心。1990年代，中國的崛起創造了新一代富豪，與此同時，新加坡也鼓勵私人財富管理者把該市作為在本地區的基地。
Singapore has positioned itself as a one-stop shop for Asia’s rich. It encouraged private wealth managers to use the city as a regional base in the 1990s just as China’s rise created a new generation of wealthy.
如今，在新加坡的金融區裡，瑞信(Credit Suisse)、瑞士寶盛(Julius Baer)和瑞銀等大銀行的辦公室坐落在閃閃發光的摩天大廈之中，周圍環繞著有百年歷史、建造於英國殖民時期的低矮建築。億萬富翁可以飛到這裡的私人飛機專用航站樓，在兩家新賭場的私密高注額賭桌前賭博，在世界上第一家實物結算鑽石交易所買進賣出。
Today, in Singapore’s financial district, big names in the private-money world, like Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and UBS, keep offices in gleaming skyscrapers among the squat facades of century-old colonial British buildings. Billionaires can fly in to the private jet terminal, gamble at private high-stakes tables at the two new casinos, and buy and sell on the world’s first diamond trading exchange.
他們可以將藝術品、葡萄酒、寶石或金條存放在自由港(Le Freeport)，這是一處超級安全、完全免稅的設施，以瑞士的類似設施為模板，被稱為「新加坡的諾克斯堡(Fort Knox)」。
They can store art, wine, gemstones or gold bullion bars in an ultra-secure, duty-and-tax-free facility called Le Freeport. Modeled on similar installations in Switzerland, the facility has been called 「Singapore’s Fort Knox.」
1MDB醜聞為新加坡的成功蒙上了陰影。美國官員正在努力追償超過10億美元的資金，他們聲稱，這筆錢是從1MDB取出的，最終由馬來西亞總理納吉卜·拉扎克(Najib Razak)的家人和朋友在美國花掉。去年，美國官員在一樁民事訴訟中說，這些錢被用於購買曼哈頓和洛杉磯等地的豪宅，為好萊塢電影《華爾街之狼》(The Wolf of Wall Street)提供資金，並用於購買畢卡索和莫奈的油畫。
The 1MDB scandal has cast a shadow over Singapore’s success. American officials are trying to recoup more than $1 billion that they say was taken from 1MDB and ultimately spent in the United States by family and friends of Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak. Those funds went to American purchases like luxury homes in Manhattan and Los Angeles, to help finance the Hollywood movie 「The Wolf of Wall Street」 and to acquire paintings by Picasso and Monet, they said in a civil suit last year.
官員們的重點關注對象是劉特佐（Low Taek Jho，也被稱為Jho Low），他是一個年輕的馬來西亞金融家，同帕麗絲·希爾頓(Paris Hilton)等人結交。美國官員說，在1MDB洗錢案中，數億美元之所以能夠合法進入美國，劉特佐在其中發揮了至關重要的作用。劉特佐和納吉卜均否認自己曾經從事不法行為。
The officials have focused on Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, a young Malaysian financier who partied with the likes of Paris Hilton. American officials say Mr. Low played a crucial role in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB into the United States. Mr. Low and Mr. Najib have denied wrongdoing.
「1MDB以及其他這些案件對於新加坡來說，都是顛覆性的，」Blackpeak公司聯合創始人克裡斯·雷希(Chris Leahy)表示，Blackpeak是一家總部位於新加坡的企業諮詢和調查公司。
「1MDB and these other cases are a game changer for Singapore,」 said Chris Leahy, a co-founder of Blackpeak, a corporate advisory and investigations firm, who is based in Singapore.
12月，新加坡法院以篡改證據及掩蓋同劉特佐的關係等罪名，判處瑞士瑞意銀行(BSI)本地分行的前私人銀行專員楊家偉30個月監禁。3月份，新加坡監管機構對曾與1MDB合作的前高盛(Goldman Sachs)銀行職員蒂姆·雷斯納(Tim Leissner)做出處罰，禁止其從事證券交易10年。
In December, a Singapore court sentenced Yeo Jiawei, a former private banker at the local branch of the Swiss bank BSI, to 30 months in prison for tampering with witnesses and obscuring his ties to Mr. Low. In March, Singaporean regulators barred Tim Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs banker who worked with 1MDB, from dealing in securities here for 10 years.
代表雷斯納的律師沒有回應置評請求。高盛表示公司正在與新加坡合作。
A lawyer representing Mr. Leissner did not respond to a request for comment. Goldman Sachs said it was cooperating.
新加坡正在提前採取更嚴格的管制。明年，經濟合作與發展組織(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)成員國之間關於全球金融信息交流的新規則將在新加坡生效。
Singapore is acting ahead of tighter regulations. Next year, new rules on global financial information exchanges among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are set to go into effect locally.
自由港也受到了額外密切的關注。金融行動特別工作組在其9月份的報告中表示，在某些情況下，考慮到風險的存在，新加坡當局對於自由港發生的事情尚不夠了解。
Le Freeport has also come under additional scrutiny. In its report in September, the Financial Action Task Force said that in some cases, the Singaporean authorities did not know enough about what was going on at Le Freeport, given the risks.
新加坡海關官員說，他們有「強有力的監管措施」來防止非法活動。自由港行政長官、前新加坡警務人員林肯·伍(Lincoln Ng)表示，地方監管機構「通過嚴格的檢查與審核了解這些活動。」
Customs officials in Singapore say they have 「robust regulatory measures」 to prevent illicit activities. Lincoln Ng, the chief executive of Le Freeport and a former Singapore police officer, said local regulators 「are aware of the activities through stringent checks and audits.」
自由港掌握在定居新加坡的瑞士藝術交易商伊夫·布維耶(Yves Bouvier)手中，他把這裡的空間租賃給代表客戶寄放商品的公司。租戶中也包括布維耶自己的藝術運輸和倉儲公司Natural le Coultre，該公司表示對客戶和貨物做過盡職調查。
Le Freeport, which is controlled by Yves Bouvier, a Swiss art dealer who is also a resident of Singapore, rents the space to firms that park merchandise there on behalf of clients. Tenants include Mr. Bouvier’s own art transportation and storage firm, Natural le Coultre, which says it conducts due diligence on its clients and goods.
「簡而言之，我們知道我們手上在處理什麼東西，我們也知道自己在和什麼人打交道，」Natural le Coultre的美術物流總監克裡斯蒂安·保利(Christian Pauli)表示。
「In short, we know what we have on hand and with whom we are dealing,」 says Christian Pauli, general manager of fine art logistics at Natural le Coultre.
這處設施既有歐洲式的精緻，又有仿佛出自007電影的安全措施。私人保險庫位於一座11噸重的鋼門之後，四周環繞著超過15英寸厚的混凝土牆。需要三個不同的人才能打開門鎖。一些租戶，比如處理貴金屬的公司，還會安裝額外的攝像頭、面部識別技術或虹膜掃描儀。
The facility combines European chic with the sort of security one might see in a James Bond movie. Private vaults lie behind an 11-ton steel door flanked by concrete walls that are more than 15 inches thick. Three different people are required to unlock the door. Some tenants, like companies handling precious metals, install extra cameras, facial recognition technology or iris readers.
保險庫一旦被租給客戶，自由港管理方就不能再進入，這裡的客戶包括佳士得等提供藝術品存儲服務的公司；專門處理寶石、貴金屬和葡萄酒的公司；以及儲存金條的銀行。在營銷材料中，許多租戶強調公司的保密性，將之作為賣點。
Le Freeport cannot gain access to the vaults once they have been leased to customers, which include art storage services like Christie’s and companies specializing in handling gems and precious metals, wine, or banks storing gold bullion. In marketing materials, many tenants highlight confidentiality as a selling point.
至於臺灣裔美國人亨利·蕭一案，律師說，司法部選擇了一種特別強硬的做法。獨立律師表示，美國檢察機關對瑞銀採取的初步行動是基於一種格外有力的傳喚之上的，這使得他們能夠追蹤瑞士銀行以前曾涉及起訴後來又被存入新加坡的錢。
In the case of Mr. Hsiaw, the American born in Taiwan, lawyers say the Justice Department chose a particularly aggressive approach. Independent lawyers say American prosecutors based their initial action against UBS on a powerful type of summons that would have allowed them to follow the money from previous Swiss bank prosecutions that was later deposited in Singapore.
瑞銀提供亨利·蕭的若干新加坡帳戶信息之後，美國方面撤回了這些指控。亨利·蕭曾在電信業擔任高管，於2007年遷往中國，無法聯繫到他置評。
The United States dismissed its charges after UBS produced some information on Mr. Hsiaw’s Singapore accounts. Mr. Hsiaw, a former telecommunications executive who relocated to China in 2007, could not be reached for comment.
瑞銀說，它已經遵守了所有適用的法律，但是沒有詳細說明。新加坡金融當局表示，新加坡官員「只要有合法理由就可以提供協助」。
UBS said it had complied with all applicable laws, but did not elaborate.. Singapore’s monetary authority said Singapore officials 「can render assistance so long as there are legitimate grounds.」
律師說，這是美國同類案件中首例以新加坡帳戶為目標的案件，相當於一種警告。
Lawyers say the case, the first of its kind in the United States to target Singapore accounts, amounted to a warning shot.
「這是一個『核選項』，」佛羅裡達州律師傑弗裡·內曼(Jeffrey Neiman)說，2009年初，他曾在聯邦政府訟瑞銀瑞士分行一案中擔任主要檢察官之一。
「It’s the nuclear option,」 said Jeffrey Neiman, a lawyer in Florida who was one of the lead prosecutors on the federal government’s initial 2009 case against UBS’s Swiss bank.
他補充說：「在任何司法管轄範圍內，保密制度最後的喪鐘就是一家銀行得到傳票，並選擇訴訟，然後在法庭上失敗。」
He added, 「the ultimate death knell for secrecy in any jurisdiction would be a bank getting served one of these subpoenas and choosing to litigate, then losing in court.」