Singapore business, finance and trade news, every Monday.
UOB Leads a Bruising Week for Bank Stocks
UOB shares dropped more than 10 percent after its third-quarter profit missed expectations and the bank warned that its net interest margin is going to be short of their previous 2026 guidance. Profit was up from the year earlier because provisions fell, but it was 15 percent lower than it was in the previous quarter. DBS lost nearly 4 percent after its profit fell 5 percent, and OCBC sympathetically dropped more than 4 percent despite posting record nine-month profit. The Straits Times Index ended the week down 3.67 percent.
Read more: Straits Times (weekly market close), Business Times (margin pressure), Business Times (UOB miss), Business Times (DBS, OCBC results)
Prince Group-Linked Director Charged Over JTC Lease
Chen Xiuling, a Singaporean also known as Karen Chen, has been charged with instigating false accounts and attempting to cheat JTC Corporation. Police say that Skyline Investment Management gave the state agency a false agreement to take over a property lease. Chen at the time directed Skyline and another company (which authorities say were owned by Prince Holding Group founder Chen Zhi). Police have so far seized or frozen more than S$700 million ($540 million) worth of assets related to the group.
Read more: Business Times
SGX Will Take Over IPO Reviews From MAS
SGX RegCo will take over IPO prospectus reviews from MAS on January 4 and is promising that it will be able to make decisions within six to eight weeks. Issuers currently deal separately with SGX RegCo on suitability and MAS on disclosure, and there’s no real timeline that can be relied on. The new process will apply to the main board and a planned board that’s intended for dual SGX-Nasdaq listings. MAS is going to keep its oversight responsibilities and the power to grant disclosure exemptions. Singapore has been working hard to try and to raise the profile of it bourse of late - for context, it raised about US$1.2 billion (in eight IPOs) in the first three quarters of this year, compared with nearly US$52 billion raised in Hong Kong through October.
Read more: Asia Asset
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Parliament Raises Top Haze Fine 10x
Companies that “cause or contribute” to haze in Singapore will now need to consider potential fines of up to S$20 million ($15.4 million), which is ten times the previous limit. The maximum daily fine is also going up tenfold to an even S$1 million, and courts are allowed to add any profit made or loss avoided in the course of an offense. Investigators will also receive wider powers to demand information, trace companies through their ownership structures, and restrict suspected offenders. Parliament rushed the bill through as investigations continue into Singapore's worst haze in more than a decade. Researchers estimate that the 2026 haze cost Singapore S$2.32 billion ($1.8 billion) through October, about 4 percent more than the inflation-adjusted cost of the much thicker 2015 episode. They put the increase down to a larger, wealthier population, more visitor spending and updated health data. Health and tourism losses rose even though Singapore had fewer hazy days and a lower average PSI.
Read more: Business Times (case for higher fines), The Independent Singapore (new penalties), Business Times (enforcement gaps), Straits Times (haze cost), AsiaOne (haze funding)
MOM Probes Abuses in Changi Operations
The Ministry of Manpower is digging into about 45 companies and 270 foreign workers employed by SATS contractors at Changi Airport. Some Employment Pass holders were responsible for handling baggage, and investigators suspect their employers made false declarations about both their salaries and occupations. Other workers were found doing jobs their passes didn’t cover. SATS said an internal audit found the irregularities, and MOM has ordered it to tighten oversight of contractors.
Read more: Business Times
SIA's Cabin Overhaul Slips to Late ‘27
Singapore Airlines is spending more than S$2 billion ($1.6 billion) on new long-haul cabins for 72 aircraft, but none of them will get into the air before 2H 2027. The 777-9 seats have been approved and certified; the A350 seats are still waiting for approval. First-class center seats will convert into a double bed, and business class is going to get sliding privacy doors. SIA is funding the project with cash and has set no return target. So far, public sentiment seems to be that the makeover is bland, overly corporate, and generally tasteless.
Read more: Reuters (cash funding), Businessinsider (seat dimensions), Business Times (delay history)
Visa Consolidates 1,500 Tech Staff
Visa is setting up six global technology hubs in Singapore and bringing approximately 1,500 staff together at a new Paya Lebar Green location. They are expected to do work on AI, digital payments and stablecoins to support global Visa network. The company said in July that it planned to cut about 2,600 jobs worldwide, it remains unclear how many of the Singapore roles are new, versus how many are reshuffled positions.
Read more: Business Times
More Taxis to Get Causeway Access
ComfortDelGro's Zig and Malaysia's Kumpool are going to be joining Grab as licensed cross-border taxi operators beginning November 16. Each country is allowed to license 500 vehicles (up from 300), but pickups on the “other side” of the border are going to stay limited to designated points. Singapore's taxi association says that its worried that the extra competition is going to hurt drivers' earnings and wants the new licenses released in stages.
Read more: The Independent Singapore (expanded taxi quota), VnExpress (rules for Causeway trips), Business Times (drivers' concerns)
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