Singapore business, finance and trade news, every Monday.
NEA Serves Haze Notices to 10 Local Firms
Singapore's environment agency has sent notices to 10 locally registere palm oil and forestry companies in its first application of the “haze law” against Singapore-based companies. The list includes Wilmar International, two Asia Pulp & Paper companies and First Resources, all of whom said that they’re willing to comply, even though APP and First Resources deny any responsibility for the fires.
Read more: CNA (firms' responses), Courthousenews (firefighting demands), Business Times (investigation panel), The Independent Singapore (air-quality outlook), The Independent Singapore (notice recipients)
Indonesia Redirects Gas Bound for Singapore
Indonesia has started to keep some gas that would have been piped out as an export in order to run local power plants. Singapore's Energy Market Authority says the cut means that 17 billion British thermal units a day haven’t arrived for 18 days. That sounds like a lot, but it about 2 percent of local demand. Temasek-owned importer Gas Supply said some customer deliveries have been affected but didn’t quantify the impact. Energy Minister Tan See Leng doesn’t think there will be much of an effect on electricity prices in the short term.
Read more: CNA (Wong on energy security), CNA (import mix), CNA (diesel reserves), Business Times (contract remedies), AsiaOne (2028 expiry)
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Tuan Sing gets Westgate Tower at 12% off
Tuan Sing will buy the companies that own Westgate Tower in Jurong East for S$600 million ($469 million), 12 percent less than the seller paid for them in 2022. The 20-story office building is about 90 percent committed. Its 295 strata units give Tuan Sing the option of selling individual floors or offices after the deal closes, which is expected by December 1.
Read more: Mingtiandi
Malaysia, Thailand join MAS Digital-Money Trial
The Malaysian and Thai central banks have come together to participate in a Singapore-led test of cross-border payments using regulated stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits. Banks and payment companies are going to be testing the system to see if their networks are able to work together and continue to run necessary checks on things like sanctions screening before anything is rolled out further. Project participants include Ripple, Visa, Mastercard, Circle, Coinbase and JPMorgan.
Read more: The Block
Singapore Tightens Judicial Management Rules
Singapore will rewrite its insolvency law to keep judicial management focused on rescuing companies. Law Minister Edwin Tong said the process too often delays an eventual liquidation and adds costs that he thinks can be avoided. Applicants will have to show how judicial management would be able to rehabilitate the business and why that process would be better than a simple wind up. A judicial manager generally will not be allowed to become the company's liquidator if the rescue fails. The bill is expected to come before Parliament in late 2026 or early 2027.
Read more: Business Times
SGD Gains Ground as a Carry-Trade Funder
The Singapore dollar is looking like a cheap alternative to the yen for investors who want to borrow in one currency in order to buy higher-yielding assets in another. The three-month forward-implied yield is about 1.65 percent, and expected USD/SGD volatility has fallen to 3.55 percent. The trade may look even better if Japan raises rates again. Swap markets put the chance of a hike by December at 80 percent.
Read more: Business Times
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