Singapore's central bank on Tuesday said it has ordered the closure of the local branch of Swiss bank BSI, which has been linked to a scandal at Malaysia's troubled state fund 1MDB.

"The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today that it has served BSI Bank Limited (BSI Bank) 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," the regulator said in a statement.

"In addition, MAS has referred to the public prosecutor the names of six members of BSI Bank’s senior management and staff to evaluate whether they have committed criminal offences."