OPINION: Singapore’s NDF scandal ain’t what you think - Jame DiBiasio

FinanceAsia.com, 14 Feb 2013
The NDF problems are a result of complaints by Singapore’s neighbours, whose central bankers hate the idea that banks in the city-state are undermining their capital controls by creating alternative valuations. NDF markets exist because of immature or repressed capital markets onshore. They are a symptom of Southeast Asian countries’ poor record in financial management, not a cause.
The MAS will surely tread carefully here: Singapore cannot afford to be perceived by the neighbours a haven of rapacious, hostile financiers. But if governments in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and elsewhere persist in trying to stamp out NDF trading, they will only hurt themselves. Full story