Singapore makes it easier for Chinese companies with dodgy corporate governance to list in SGX

Bloomberg, 21 Sep 2014
Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX) is forecasting an end to a two-year hiatus for Chinese listings after regulators made it easier for companies from Asia’s biggest economy to sell shares in the city-state.
After a flurry of Chinese companies known as the S-chips listed in Singapore in 2007, IPOs dried up as debt defaults and accounting scandals saw stocks from FerroChina Ltd. to Sino Techfibre Ltd. delisted or suspended.
SGX has been holding seminars across China to explain the new rules to state-owned enterprises and private companies, and has received enquiries from manufacturers, property developers and mining companies interested in a Singapore IPO, Wong said. Full story

Related:
Singapore Government bends to attract China IPOs - The Rakyat Post

MAS steps up scrutiny of some Indian bank branches in Singapore as bribery scandal over bad loans rocks India's banking system

Reuters UK, 13 Sep 2014
Singapore regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of some local branches of Indian banks on concerns about asset quality, three bank executives told Reuters.
India's slowest economic growth in a decade and a weakened rupee have weighed on the balance sheets of heavily leveraged Indian companies, including those that have raised money from Indian lenders in offshore centres such as Singapore.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is looking more closely at the books of the local operations of some Indian banks to assess the credit quality of loans made from the branches to Indian companies, bankers said. Full story


Related:
India bribery scandal over bad loans are only tip of iceberg, says former Comptroller and Auditor General of India - Firstpost.com

Singapore companies have reached dangerous debt level, says research firm

Cityindex.co.uk, 4 Jun 2014
Singapore companies have a level of indebtedness that has reached new highs as the country's economic growth slows, according to GMT Research.
Debt rose to six times the amount of operating cash flow in 2013 for non-financial Singaporean companies, from 5.1 times in 2012, the Hong Kong-based research firm revealed.
Leverage among corporates has now reached a "danger threshold", GMT founder Gillem Tulloch told Bloomberg on Tuesday (June 3rd).
"It’s a bit surprising that Singaporean companies seem to have leveraged up significantly over the past few years. There’s been a slight loss of discipline, or it could be that the growth has not come in as expected," he said. Full story

MAS bans Great Eastern Life financial/insurance adviser after forgery conviction

IFA.com.au, 28 May 2014
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued prohibition orders against a financial and insurance adviser operating in the city state after he was convicted on charges of forgery.
According to a statement from the MAS, the regulatory body has issued “prohibition orders against Teo Choon How (Terence) from carrying on business as an insurance intermediary and providing any financial advisory service” pursuant to the Insurance Act and Financial Advisers Act.
The order prohibits Mr Teo from acting as an insurance intermediary or as a manager in an insurance intermediary as well as from “taking part, directly or indirectly, in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of a licensed financial adviser or exempt financial adviser in Singapore”. Full story

PAP's ingenious scheme to hold your CPF money after your demise

Leongszehian.com, 5 May 2014
Pay your CPF to your nominees’ CPF?
We just discovered that you can now choose to pay your CPF to your nominees’ CPF on your demise, instead of as the normal cash to your nominees.
- Thanks to a posting on facebook.
It is called the Enhanced Nomination Scheme (ENS) that has been available since 1 January 2011.
Media ever report?
Was this ever reported in the media?
Under the ENS, there are 2 options for you to choose.
Pay to Special/Retirement Accounts first?
You can choose to credit your CPF on your death to your nominees’s Special and Retirement Accounts first (up to the prevailing Minimum Sum – currently $148,000), followed by the excess to your nominees’ Medisave Account up to the prevailing Medisave Contribution Ceiling (currently $43,500).
Or pay to Medisave Account first?
The other option is to credit your nominees’ Medisave Account first, followed by the excess to the Special and Retirement Accounts. Full story

Related:
CPF crossing the red line - My Singapore News

Thailand exchange outgunned FT-led SGX despite political turmoil

Financial Times, 23 Apr 2014
Singapore’s equity market is looking increasingly unloved. Last year the city-state’s stock exchange suffered the indignity of being overtaken in terms of trading volume by its Thai counterpart, knocking Singapore into second place in southeast Asia for the first time. More recently it was also overhauled by Japannext, a relatively small trading platform that competes with the Tokyo bourse.
This makes SGX, the Singapore exchange, Asia’s ninth-largest share market – a frustrating state of affairs for an exchange that prides itself on being “the Asian gateway” for investors in the region.
Singapore’s problems – a combination of low trading volume, or liquidity; relatively high transaction costs; and a dearth of big-ticket initial public offerings – were highlighted on Wednesday when SGX reported a 22 per cent fall in net profit for the third quarter. Full story

OPINION: Do rising Singapore bankruptcies signal trouble ahead? - Leslie Shaffer, CNBC

CNBC.com, 18 Feb 2014
Bankruptcy orders rose nearly 14 percent on year in 2013, and although the actual number was relatively low at 1,992, that is the highest number since 2009, the middle of the global financial crisis.
The wealthy Southeast Asian nation has seen soaring household debt levels in recent years as low interest rates have led to a borrowing spree, prompting the government to step in to curb demand amid concerns rates are heading higher.
Singapore's household debt-to-income ratio has risen to 2.1 times in 2012 from a low of around 1.9 times in 2008 during the Lehman crisis, according to data in the annual financial stability review, released by the city-state's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, in December. Full story

Singapore banks do not take anti-money laundering measures seriously - report

Reuters, 13 Feb 2014
Anti-money laundering (AML) measures - despite the rhetoric - among Asian banks, including those in Singapore, are not always a priority issue, a survey has found.
But Asian regulators are stepping up their game and expect board directors to take an active role in managing AML risks, so banks need to address the issue more urgently. Link

DBS to restrict access to internet chat rooms, UOB and OCBC to closely scrutinize all staff's electronic communications

Bloomberg, 29 Jan 2014
DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS), Southeast Asia’s largest lender, restricted access to chat rooms, while Singapore rivals United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. increased scrutiny on electronic communications.
“In line with evolving industry practice, we have restricted access to chat rooms and enhanced our guidelines to further strengthen governance and controls,” DBS said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. UOB said it tightened guidelines and OCBC said it put monitoring protocols in place. Full story

Related:
Singapore banks tighten electronic communications oversight - The Malay Mail Online

OPINION: U.S. Fed Holds the Fuse to Singapore’s Bubble Time Bomb

Financialsense.com, 24 Jan 2014
Singapore’s benchmark interest rate, the SIBOR, is tied to the U.S. Fed Funds Rate to minimise large swings in the USD-Singapore dollar exchange rate. Low interest rates are a direct cause of credit bubbles, and Singapore is no exception.
Since the SIBOR is used to price most of the loans and mortgages in Singapore, a very low SIBOR means cheap credit for Singaporeans. The ratio of household debt to gross domestic product now stands at around 75%, up from 55% in 2010 and 45% in 2005, according to data compiled by Standard Chartered.
Furthermore, 70% of those loans have floating interest rates, meaning that once the Fed tapers, mortgage repayments will increase too, possibly exposing unsustainable debt in the system. Full story

Standard Chartered says private bank client statements stolen in Singapore

Reuters, 5 Dec 2013
Standard Chartered said on Thursday that 647 monthly statements of its private bank clients in Singapore have been stolen.
A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed media reports that the data was taken from a server of a company which prints statements for the bank. Full story

China wholeheartedly supports SGX's effort to make it easier for China firms to get listed

China Economic Net, 30 Nov 2013
China's top securities regulator said on Friday that it supports the the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) mechanism and policy arrangements to help Chinese firms get listed in Singapore.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) made the response after the SGX talked of stepping up cooperation with China in facilitating the listing of Chinese companies in Singapore in a letter sent to the CSRC in October, CSRC spokesman Zhang Xiaojun said at a press conference.
Zhang said that the SGX plans to release more detailed documents soon about the procedures and basic requirements of listing. Full story

MAS force India-based Financial Technologies-India to exit from Singapore Mercantile Exchange as NSEL crisis deepens

The Financial Express, 20 Nov 2013
Jignesh Shah-owned Financial Technologies-India (FTIL) on Tuesday announced that it has sold its 100% stake in Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) for $150 million to Intercontinental Exchange Group, which owns leading bourses like NYSE Euronext and New York Board of Trade. This is the first instance of FTIL selling stake in any of its overseas exchange holdings after the settlement crisis at the National Spot Exchange (NSEL) came to light in August.
According to persons familiar with the development, the sudden exit of FTIL from SMX could be at the behest of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which is the financial services regulator of the country. The regulator has independent directors on the board of SMX and its views are always communicated in a tacit manner, they say. Full story

Related:
Financial Technologies Group sells Singapore arm SMX for $150 mn, Jignesh Shah gets cash to fight NSEL crisis - The Financial Express
FTIL sells SMX for $150 mn; clear dues, say NSEL investors - The Economic Times
FTIL sells SMX for $150 mn; clear dues, say NSEL investors - Zee News
NSEL crisis: Jignesh Shah gets emotional over SMX parting - The Financial Express

Also read:
NSEL crisis: More trouble for Jignesh Shah, as govt targets Financial Technologies over ownership - The Financial Express

A Singaporean's letter to CPF: Give Me Back My Money!

Yahoo! Finance Singapore, 18 Nov 2013
Dear CPF,
For years you’ve taken a cut from my paycheck under the promise of social “protection.” In a way, you’re like a very well-intentioned gangster, protecting my money from well… me right?
I’m grateful though that you at least “allow” me to use some of my money towards buying a home, or to subsidise (partially) my hospital bills.
I’m not going to ask what you do with my money while it’s in your hands (I’m sure it’s just sitting there untouched right?). But I do ask that you let me use it for pressing emergencies that directly affect me and my family’s well-being. Full story

Singapore ranked 5th in Financial Secrecy Index 2013

Financialsecrecyindex.com

1. Full report
2. Narrative Report on Singapore (PDF)

$5 million worth of bitcoin vanish in China

RT.com, 12 Nov 2013
A Chinese bitcoin trading platform suddenly shut down and up to $5 million worth of bitcoin disappeared with it, a reminder of the great risk associated with the digital currency.
Users were unable to log into the Chinese bitcoin platform Global Bond Limited (GBL) on October 26, and as much as $5 million (30 million yuan) has disappeared with it.
The platform’s users had a “winning” streak of high yields and almost never “lost”, which made it something of an addictive investment.
Launched in May 2013, GBL claimed it was headquartered in Hong Kong, but users began to get suspicious when they traced the site’s server to Beijing.
GBL allegedly never received a license to sell and buy bitcoins and then vanished with clients digital investments, leaving no trace. Full story

U.S. authorities scrutinizing J P Morgan's hiring practices in Singapore

Business Today, 2 Nov 2013
The US authorities are believed to be scrutinising the hiring practices of banking giant J P Morgan Chase in India, South Korea and Singapore following a probe into its activities in China regarding hiring children of powerful officials to win lucrative business deals.
A report in the New York Time said that the federal investigation into the hiring practices of JPMorgan Chase appears to be expanding beyond China into other Asian markets.
Federal authorities led by the SEC's antibribery unit had begun an investigation into the bank's hiring of the sons and daughters of China's elite.
It emerged that the bank had hired the daughter of a Chinese railway official and the son of Tang Shuangning, a former Chinese banking regulator who is now the chairman of the state-controlled financial conglomerate China Everbright Group, according to a confidential government document reviewed by NYT.
The bank had even created a formal "Sons and Daughters" programme in 2006 after friends and family of China's elite jostled for positions at JPMorgan, the NYT report said.   Full story

Related:

1. Morgan's hiring practices in India, Singapore under scrutiny - In.com
2. US widens inquiry into JPMorgan Asian hiring - NDTV PROFIT

Bangladesh poor selling organs to pay back microcredit loan

BBC News, 28 Oct 2013
Microcredit, hailed as a saviour for millions, aims to break the cycle of poverty by stimulating income-generating activities through providing collateral-free loans.
But its repayment structure and the apparent inability of microfinance institutions to determine whether borrowers have multiple loans with other institutions rarely come under scrutiny.
Consequently, it can create a vicious cycle in which borrowers borrow money from other NGOs to repay existing loans, leaving many unable to repay and some to take extreme measures such as selling organs to make repayments. Full story

Related:

1. Temasek Pumping More Money Into India's Micro Financing Market - Sammyboy Forum
2. Temasek Snared in India as Crackdown Slows Microfinance IPOs - Bloomberg
3. Temasek Opens Micro-Loan Firm - z-ben.com
4. Temasek: Micro-credit Business in China - Chengao.wordpress.com
5. Temasek Starts Micro-credit Business In Chengdu, China

Singapore continues push to become "global gold hub" by offering tax incentives and relax regulations to Thai gold traders

Resource Investor, 24 Sep 2013
The wealthy Asian city state of Singapore, which has become one of the world’s most important financial centers in recent years, continues its push toward making itself a global gold hub to rival New York and London.
Singapore has been trying to persuade Thailand's top five gold traders to establish footholds in the city-state as it aims to become a center for gold price referencing in Southeast Asia before the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) takes shape in 2015, according to the The Nation.
It reports that the Singaporean government dispatched a team to Thailand to offer relaxed regulations and tax incentives to traders who open offices in that country. It wants to become a reference center for global gold prices. Full story

Related:
Singapore beckons top Thai gold traders ahead of AEC - BusinessMirror

Bankers warn on Singapore shake-up

The Irish Times, 29 Aug 2013
Intense competition, a tendency for wealthy Asians to use multiple private bankers and high staff costs are likely to force consolidation in the wealth-management business in Singapore and could push operators out of business, top private bankers have warned.
Signs of competitive strain in one of Asia’s biggest wealth management hubs stand in contrast to an image of rising wealth as the number of multimillionaires grows faster in the region than elsewhere.
Bankers say that even as assets under management are growing fast in Singapore, that is not translating into profits for many banks that have rushed to Singapore to tap growing wealth. Full story