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Tag: Singapore

  • Singapore Reconsiders Economic Reopening

    Singapore Reconsiders Economic Reopening

    A growing cluster of infections threatens to derail Singapore’s economic reopening, while expats in the country are growing restless from being cooped up on the island with no end in sight.

    Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Task Force is closely monitoring the growing number of community cases, particularly the expanding cluster of cases that now numbers 56, which originated from a neighborhood market.

    Day by day, we are seeing the number of unlinked cases – the cryptic cases in the community – is likely to be rising too. Given these developments, we are evaluating the timing and scope of the next stage of reopening, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in a video recording posted on Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday.

    The country is set for further relaxation of «heightened alert» restrictions from Monday, following a month of heightened Covid-19 related restrictions, during which community cases fell sharply, a and a week-long first stage of reopening.

    Singapore’s borders have been effectively shut for more than a year now, and many expats are getting restless, particularly as the U.S. and Europe return to normalcy.

    Many feel the country is too slow in reopening its borders, and may depart in the next six months if vaccinations and travel re-opening do not go as planned. Currently, returning residents face three weeks of quarantine – if they are allowed back into the country.

    Singapore said any ease in travel curbs will depend on the pace of vaccinations, which it has targeted for half of its population bu the end of August and 75 percent by October. Currently, about 35 percent of the population is vaccinated.

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  • Open Finance Startup to Expand Across Southeast Asia

    Open Finance Startup to Expand Across Southeast Asia

    Singapore-based Finantier has closed an oversubscribed seed financing round at more than 20 times its pre-seed valuation.

    Finantier plans to strengthen its presence in Indonesia and Southeast Asia after raising seven figures in seed funding in a round led by Global Founders Capital and East Ventures, it announced on Wednesday.

    Founded in 2020, the fintech provides an application programming interface (API) platform for financial institutions to access and analyze consumer financial data. The new funds will also go towards scaling and enhancing its product offerings and double the size of its team.

    Southeast Asia’s large unbanked population presents challenges for financial institutions who lack access to consumer financial data, handicapping them in providing financial services such as payments, lending, and insurance, among others, Finantier explained.

    To address this, the company works with over 150 companies to aggregate data from alternative sources to give its clients access to a more comprehensive range of datasets and enable the unbanked population to benefit from their digital data footprint.

    Finantier’s clients and partnerships have seen over 50 percent monthly growth in 2021, while its team has grown fivefold to 50 employees, the company said.

    Open finance is an extension of open banking data-sharing principles to enable third-party providers to access customers’ data across a broader range of financial sectors and products, including savings and investments.

    With open finance facilitating the open exchange of consumer data, companies can leverage it to reach more customers while creating more personalized financial services, Diego Rojas, Finantier co-founder and CEO, said.

    Rojas previously worked closely with the co-founders of NYSE-listed LendingClub and was the technical lead at the founding team of GIC-backed Chinese online lending marketplace Dianrong.

    COO Edwin Kusuma was previously from Google and was also formerly CEO of P2P lending firm 360Kredi and director of operations at Kredinesia, while CPO Keng Low was the technical lead for a payments startup in Silicon Valley and previously an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at East Ventures.

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  • Citi to End Small Biz Banking in Singapore

    Citi to End Small Biz Banking in Singapore

    The bank will shut its consumer unit serving small businesses in Singapore in mid-August.

    Citibank has decided to close its Citibusiness unit, which will affect some 2,000 customers, following an ongoing strategic review of the business.

    About 20 to 30 staff will be affected by the changes, saying that Citi would be re-allocating its resources and our people to support other growth areas and sharpen its client focus.

    Citibusiness, which serves small-sized businesses, is part of its consumer banking division. The bank will continue to serve small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients through Citi Commercial Bank.

    Singapore is a priority market for Citi. We continue to invest and focus on growth areas of the bank including the SME and commercial banking business,» the spokesperson said.

    Citi recently announced that it is considering downsizing its consumer business worldwide, with an eye on selling some of its businesses in the Asia Pacific region.

    At the same time, the U.S.-headquartered bank has placed its bets on four wealth hubs, which includes Singapore, as it consolidates its operations globally.

    It aims to double its wealth management market share in Singapore from the current 5 percent and triple the number of clients by 2025. To achieve this, it is looking to hire over 330 relationship managers.

  • Citi to End Small Biz Banking in Singapore

    Citi to End Small Biz Banking in Singapore

    The bank will shut its consumer unit serving small businesses in Singapore in mid-August.

    Citibank has decided to close its Citibusiness unit, which will affect some 2,000 customers, following an ongoing strategic review of the business.

    About 20 to 30 staff will be affected by the changes, a bank spokesperson said, saying that Citi would be re-allocating its resources and our people to support other growth areas and sharpen its client focus.

    Citibusiness, which serves small-sized businesses, is part of its consumer banking division. The bank will continue to serve small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients through Citi Commercial Bank.

    Singapore is a priority market for Citi. We continue to invest and focus on growth areas of the bank including the SME and commercial banking business, the spokesperson said.

    Citi recently announced that it is considering downsizing its consumer business worldwide, with an eye on selling some of its businesses in the Asia Pacific region.

    At the same time, the U.S.-headquartered bank has placed its bets on four wealth hubs, which includes Singapore, as it consolidates its operations globally.

    It aims to double its wealth management market share in Singapore from the current 5 percent, and triple the number of clients by 2025. To achieve this, it is looking to hire over 330 relationship managers.

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  • Bank of Singapore Loses Russian Heavyweight

    Bank of Singapore Loses Russian Heavyweight

    A key private banker covering the Russian market has left Bank of Singapore.

    Vadim Bondarev, head for Russia and Eastern Europe, is leaving Bank of Singapore (BoS), sources familiar with his exit said.

    A spokesperson from the bank confirmed this information.

    Bondarev joined BoS in 2014 and was responsible for covering ultra-high-net-worth clients from Russia and CIS. He lately relocated from Singapore to build up the European headquarters of BoS in Luxembourg.

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  • Bank of Singapore Nets Ex-UBS Wealth Planning Veteran

    Bank of Singapore Nets Ex-UBS Wealth Planning Veteran

    Bank of Singapore bolsters its business with the hire of a 30-year wealth planning veteran from UBS.

    Bank of Singapore hires Paul Chua as its global head of wealth planning, according to a statement, effective June 28 this year.

    In his Singapore-based role, Chua reports to global head of products Lim Leong Guan.

    Chua succeeds Tariq Salem who remains with the bank to focus exclusively on his role as head of structured solutions group.

    Chua has over 30 years of tax and wealth planning experience in advising ultrahigh net worth and multi-generational families on the structuring of their estate, succession, and wealth transfer strategies.

    He was most recently with UBS where he spent 19 years, last as its Singapore head of wealth planning.

    Aside from exemplary leadership qualities, Chua is known as an industry veteran who extends a personal touch when dealing with clients, said Lim, who also joined Bank of Singapore from UBS last year. We are confident that he will be a key addition to our wealth planning team to help develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with our clients.

    At a minimum net worth of $250 million, Bank of Singapore is increasingly focused on the family office segment which has seen clients onboarded triple in 2020 compared to 2019.

    The bank also hired Carrie Ng as head of single-family office advisory – a newly created role – in March this year and Joanna Ho as the Greater China and North Asia head of wealth planning last year.

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  • Singapore and Hong Kong Set Review Date for Travel Bubble

    Singapore and Hong Kong Set Review Date for Travel Bubble

    An announcement on the launch date for the travel bubble is expected in early July, following a review by both sides.

    The latest developments come in view of the COVID-19 epidemic situation in Singapore, which has been stabilizing since early June, the Hong Kong government said in an announcement on Thursday.

    Both consider that it is prudent to keep the developments under review to ensure the epidemic situation is sufficiently stable before deciding in early July on the way forward for the ATB, the announcement said.

    The travel bubble between two business hubs, planned since October 2020, has been beset by numerous delays.

    On Thursday, Singapore also announced the easing of curbs to control the spread of Covid-19, to take place from June 14.

    The city-state brought back stricter social distancing measures in early May amid growing community infections, but new cases have since stabilized in the low single digits.

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  • Guardian Singapore cuts prices for 500 articles

    Guardian Singapore cuts prices for 500 articles

    The Guardian pharmacy chain said that it is reducing prices on more than 500 health and beauty products for the rest of the year, given that customers are “more value-conscious in the face of increasing financial challenges” of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Guardian said that the initiative, involving reductions of up to 25 percent, would cost the company S$6 million.

    In a press statement on Thursday (June 3), it said that it is embarking on these longer-term price reductions because it wants to help customers save more and make a meaningful impact by making health and beauty essential accessible to everyone.

    The price reductions apply from Thursday.

    The items that will see their prices reduced include:

    1. All products under the Guardian brand
    2. Listerine mouthwash
    3. Dove body wash
    4. Darlie toothpaste
    5. Pantene shampoo

    The selection of products follows Guardian’s research, which looked at what products customers buy the most, and it showed that they prioritized affordability. Giant invests S$4 million more to extend discounts on products till end-2021

    Mr. James McCoy, director of commercial and operations at Guardian Singapore, said: “We want to support our customers in managing their health and well-being in an affordable way, especially during this time. We are ensuring that our customers can get their daily essentials at low prices that are locked for the rest of the year”.

    This initiative by Guardian came after a similar move by supermarket chain Giant. Both chains are part of conglomerate Dairy Farm International Holdings.

    The supermarket chain announced in March that it would extend its discounts on hundreds of products until the end of the year, which will set it back by an extra S$4 million, and add more than 100 discounted products.

    The move was to help ease the financial hardship faced by customers during the pandemic.

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  • HSBC Singapore Strengthens Board

    HSBC Singapore Strengthens Board

    HSBC Singapore has named a new executive director to its board, while Winston Ngan, who retired as a partner of EY Singapore, joins as an independent non-executive director.

    Wong Kee Joo, who was appointed as Singapore CEO on 1 June 2021, brings more than 26 years of banking experience across markets like the U.K., Thailand, Hong Kong and China. He was previously HSBC’s regional head of global payments and cash management (GLCM) for the Asia Pacific region since January 2015.

    Ngan brings 26 years of professional services experience, including stints with Ernst & Young (EY) in Singapore and Canada. Before retiring, he led EY’s Financial Services Assurance practice, overseeing 1,300 audit professionals across Asean, including Singapore.

    HSBC reiterated its commitment to Singapore as a strategic priority market and said it aims to double the total wealth balances of its Wealth and Personal Banking business in the next five years.

    Among the bank’s priorities are growing frontline wealth teams to support high net worth (HNW) and ultra-high net worth (UHNW) customer segments; accelerating growth in offshore customer segments, in particular overseas Chinese and Indians, and UHNW market share; and ramping up digital banking capabilities and expanding its product and solution suite, including adding more ESG-themed investments.

    As we head into our next phase of growth, Kee Joo’s extensive regional experience in wholesale banking will further strengthen our ability to tap HSBC corporate clients’ personal banking and wealth needs for growth, while Winston’s deep knowledge of Singapore’s banking regulatory requirements will ensure that we have a robust audit framework and the necessary internal controls in place, Mukhtar Hussain, HSBC Singapore chairman, said in the announcement.

  • Singapore Fintech Partners BNP for Impact Investment

    Singapore Fintech Partners BNP for Impact Investment

    AI-driven fintech GreenArc Capital and BNP Paribas have been awarded a proof of concept grant by the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Sector Development Fund.

    The partners will collaborate on impact measurement and audit project, which will be led by Rony J Palathinkal, COO of GreenArc Capital, according to an announcement.

    The POC is an extension of their previous work to develop the GreenArc platform – an impact investment solution with an embedded impact measurement module that connects investors with impact opportunities focused on financial inclusion and climate action.

    GreenArc uses advanced machine learning techniques to provide assurance of the stated impact objectives of financial products, as well as facilitate investor capital towards true sustainable investments to avoid impact washing. It has been deployed successfully by financial institutions to measure their debt portfolio’s impact.

    We aim to bring transparency to investors and liquidity to select last-mile lenders and microfinance lenders, Joris Dierckx, BNP Paribas regional head of Southeast Asia and CEO, Singapore, said, noting the growing interest among institutional and retail investors to have a positive impact climate change and economic inequality.

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  • OCBC to Grow Transaction Banking Division

    OCBC to Grow Transaction Banking Division

    The bank aims to grow the division by another 50 headcounts to 150 in total by the end of the year. The bank is looking to boost its transaction banking workforce with specialized staff who can help it to develop products and services, and in particular, those with regional skill sets that can support clients in its key markets, OCBC’s Melvyn Low told «The Straits Times.»

    The bank’s head of global transaction banking said the rise of mobile and internet banking, as well as application programming interfaces (APIs) that connect various platforms, are prompting a shift in the skills in demand.

    The division provides corporate banking solutions, including cash management, APIs, trade and supply chain finance solutions, and also serves the bank’s overseas markets in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Greater China.

    I need a very deep appreciation of new technologies like APIs, blockchain, and for data, Low said about the desired candidates. It’s not just about knowing how to look at and consume data, but how to use it to target clients, identify their flows and capture them with solutions using new technologies, Low added.

    He also cited mobile payments, platform connectivity, and cross-border instant payments as areas with the potential to grow.

    In its recent quarterly trading update, the bank highlighted growing momentum from renewed market optimism across its businesses, as well as improved quarterly earnings from its overseas banking subsidiaries.

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  • Citi Appoints Credit Card Head in Singapore

    Citi Appoints Credit Card Head in Singapore

    Citi names a new Singapore head of credit cards and personal loans for its global consumer banking business.

    Citi appointed Serene Gay to the new role, according to a statement, to oversee customer growth, portfolio management, product management, and customer retention for credit cards and ready credit.

    Gay succeeds Vikas Kumar who will join Citi’s U.S. consumer unsecured leading team as head of personal installment after leading the Singapore credit card and personal loans unit for over four years.

    Gay has 16 years of experience at Citi across Singapore, Thailand and China, and was most recently the head of client growth, cards, and loans for APAC and EMEA.

    Singapore is one of four key markets – alongside Hong Kong, UAE, and London – for Citi after it made a major strategic overhaul to exit 13 other consumer banking markets, citing a lack of scale to be competitive.

    Our consumer business in Singapore is strategically important and a critical source of innovation and growth, said head of APAC and EMEA consumer bank Kartik Mani.

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  • Maybank Kim Eng Appoints Singapore Chief

    Maybank Kim Eng Appoints Singapore Chief

    He replaces Harmeet Singh Bedi, who left after six years at the firm in 2020 for Prime US Reit, a Singapore real estate investment trust.

    Maybank Kim Eng, the fully owned investment banking arm of Malaysia-headquartered Maybank, has appointed Aditya Laroia as chief executive officer, Singapore, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

    Laroia joined Maybank Kim Eng in 2020 as head of prime brokerage and country head of investment management in Singapore. In his new role, he will be responsible for the firm’s overall securities and investment banking business in Singapore and the execution of its five-year plan that is anchored by a sustainability-first approach.

    The new chief brings over 23 years’ experience in financial markets in New York, London and Asia.

    He was previously head of sales Asia-Pacific at Saxo Markets, responsible for managing all sales and commercial activities for Saxo Group in the region. Before joining Saxo in 2012, he spent 4 years at Nomura in London, and 10 years at Lehman Brothers.

    Singapore is a key home market for Maybank Kim Eng Group as it is a financial gateway for many of its client segments, Group CEO Ami Moris said in the announcement.

    With Aditya’s global experience and strong capital markets knowhow, I am confident that he will strengthen our franchise in Singapore to continue providing Asean-leading solutions to our clients, Moris said.

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  • HSBC Rolls Out Digital Wallet for SMEs in Singapore

    HSBC Rolls Out Digital Wallet for SMEs in Singapore

    The bank has launched a digital wallet for businesses in Singapore, which enables them to send, receive and hold cash in multiple currencies.

    HSBC’s Digital Wallet, which aims to significantly reduce the time it takes for SMEs to make business payments, is also being launched in the U.K. and the U.S., with a pipeline of further markets as well as new currencies and enhancements, the bank said in an announcement.

    The multi-currency wallet is integrated into its business banking platform HSBCnet, and removes the need for businesses to use third-party providers for international transactions, HSBC said. For example, businesses in Singapore can pay their Malaysia counterparts directly in ringgit.

    Li Lian Ng, HSBC’s head of business banking, Singapore, said the bank is committed to scaling up its SME banking capabilities in Singapore. The bank previously announced its strategy to scale-up its SME business and increase its share in the market to 15 percent by 2021.

    Since then, it has launched a number of products and initiatives for SMEs, including the online banking platform HSBCnet, Green Loans, the «Pioneer» programme for fast growing businesses, international business banking, and a not-for-profit proposition.

    HSBC said that Singapore’s SMEs are doubling down on their international connectivity and prioritizing resilience in their supply chains, with 87 percent planning to expand their international business, citing a survey conducted among local businesses with annual revenue between S$5 million and S$100 million.

    Drawing on HSBC’s deep digital expertise and wide global network, we are helping SMEs to build resilience and trust within their global supply chains whilst making everyday banking easier, Ng said.

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  • Virus Resurgence in Singapore Derails Economic Recovery

    Virus Resurgence in Singapore Derails Economic Recovery

    Following consecutive quarters of recovery, the latest setback means that Singapore’s full-year target of 6 percent GDP growth is unlikely. Hopes for a second-quarter expansion in Singapore’s economy have been dashed by a resurgence in the Covid-19 virus that has taken the city-state by surprise. The republic introduced tighter measures on Sunday to stem the spread of Covid-19, following a spike in the number of imported and community cases linked to the B1617 variant from India in recent weeks.

    The new wave of Covid-19 restrictions, which will last until June 13, includes a ban on dining-in and a reduction of social gatherings from five people to two, as well as home-based learning at schools and default working from home.

    The overall number of new cases in the community grew from 32 cases in the week before to 149 cases in the past week, while the number of unlinked cases in the community grew from seven cases in the week before to 42 cases in the past week, according to the Ministry of Health

    The spike in community cases has also led to the second deferment of the Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble, planned for 26 May. Singapore Transport Minister S. Iswaran and Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau agreed at a meeting on Monday to review the situation and plan a new launch date.

    According to the terms of the agreement between the two cities, the travel bubble will be closed for two weeks if the seven-day moving average of the daily number of unlinked local cases is more than five in either Singapore or Hong Kong.

    The World Economic Forum’s special annual meeting, which was temporarily relocated from Davos, Switzerland to the city-state, will also be scrapped, organizers said in a statement on Monday.

    Regretfully, the tragic circumstances unfolding across geographies, an uncertain travel outlook, differing speeds of vaccination rollout and the uncertainty around new variants combine to make it impossible to realize a global meeting with business, government, and civil society leaders from all over the world at the scale which was planned said the WEF.

    The meeting, which was already pushed back from May, was scheduled for August 17 to 20 at Marina Bay Sands, with over 1,000 delegates expected to attend.