Quoteworthy: "Wealth taxes are needed to build a fairer society where everyone can aspire to succeed regardless of their backgrounds" — Singapore’s finance minister Lawrence Wong during his Budget 2022 announcement in Parliament on Feb 18.
Former OCBC rep charged for fraud and dishonesty
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a five-year prohibition order (PO) against Zeng Xuan, effective Feb 23. Zeng, who was formerly a representative of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), was convicted in the state courts for fraud and dishonestly.
According to the statement released by the MAS, Zeng’s client had asked in December 2017 if additional premiums for his pre-existing medical condition could be waived, as he wanted to buy three policies. In order to meet her sales target, Zeng lied to her client that additional premiums would not apply to his insurance policies despite knowing that the insurer had not agreed to the waiver.
She also added a clause into the insurance application form to falsely state that her client had consented to the additional premiums. The premiums paid by the client went towards one policy, instead of three policies as the client was led to believe. Zeng subsequently forged further documents when the client asked for documentation relating to the other two policies that he thought he had bought.
She pleaded guilty in the state courts on Aug 5, 2021, and was convicted of one count of forgery under section 465 of the penal code. Zeng was sentenced to two weeks’ imprisonment.
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Under the PO, Zeng is not allowed to provide any financial advisory service. She is also banned from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm licensed or exempt under the Financial Advisers Act within the five years of the PO. — Felicia Tan
ST Engineering and Strides enter MOU for road, rail and EV cooperation
ST Engineering and Strides International Business (Strides) on Feb 23 entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to foster cooperation in pursuing international opportunities in rail, road and electric vehicles (EV).
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Under the MOU, both companies will jointly provide technical, operational and maintenance expertise in EVs, intelligent road transportation and rail electronics for future land transportation projects overseas.
ST Engineering will contribute its established expertise in diesel-to-electric bus retrofit, integrated EV payment platforms, as well as smart metro solutions, road traffic management and fleet management, while Strides will provide capabilities in operations, maintenance and service of transport and rail networks, driver and driverless transit products and systems, deployment of electric vehicles, mobility solutions, as well as strong rail engineering and non-fare expertise, such as in transit properties.
ST Engineering and Strides will also work together to build train and railway systems testing and commissioning capabilities in Singapore, and develop joint go-to-market activities in key markets in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. — Goola Warden
Singapore’s core inflation hits 10-year high at 2.4% in Jan
Singapore’s core inflation continued to rise in the first month of the year, while the headline measure stayed flat.
Core inflation — which gauges price increments to sectors other than accommodation and private transport — rose by 2.4% y-o-y according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the Department of Statistics (Singstat) on Feb 23. This is the highest the metric has hit in nearly 10 years and follows rising food and energy prices. The last time the indicator came in at 2.4% was in September 2012. January’s reading is also higher than the 2.1% posted in December
Meanwhile, headline inflation — the measure of the total inflation in the economy — stayed flat at 4% y-o-y in January.
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This came in response to a moderation in private transport inflation that offset higher core and accommodation inflation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) say in a joint release. The authorities add that the metric’s latest reading is at a nine-year high.
The biggest increase in prices in January were from electricity and gas, which saw inflation levels hitting 17.2%, up from 10.7% in the previous month. This follows a steeper increase in electricity and gas tariffs.
The cost of accommodation also inched up to 3.1% in January, from 3% in December, due to a larger increase in housing rents. Food prices rose by 2.6%, up from 2.1% in the month before, on the back of higher inflation levels for both non-cooked food and prepared meals.
Meanwhile, prices of the other segments declined in January, with private transport costs leading with a 14% drop. This is down from a 15.5% decline seen in December and follows a smaller increase in the price of cars.
Services inflation also dipped to 2.4% in January from 2.6% as a result of a fall in holiday expenses, airfares and the fees for telecommunications. These moves come with a slower increase in the cost of domestic and household services.
In the same regard, the prices of retail and other goods fell by 0.3% from a drop of 0.7% in December. MAS and MTI attribute this to a combination of smaller declines in the prices of clothing and footwear and personal care products as well as a stronger pickup in the prices of medical products and household durables. — Amala Balakrishner
Singtel to spend $2 bil to redevelop then divest Comcentre HQ
Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) has announced its plans to appoint a developer to jointly redevelop its Comcentre headquarters along the Orchard Road belt.
The redevelopment will maximise the Comcentre’s site potential and increase building efficiency with a view to unlocking value from the property, says the telco in its Feb 23 statement. The total cost of development, including land costs, is estimated to be in excess of $2 billion.
As part of its capital recycling strategy, Singtel will divest Comcentre to a joint venture company formed with the appointed developer and hold a majority stake in this joint venture.
The new building is expected to have a total gross floor area of over 110,000 sqm comprising Grade-A office buildings, a retail component and Singtel’s existing Orchard Exchange. It plans to include a future underground connection to Somerset MRT station on the North South Line.
As the anchor tenant, Singtel will occupy around 30% of the space. The remaining space will be leased out to other tenants, which will generate recurring income for the telco in the long term.
The new Comcentre is expected to be completed in 2028.
“Maximising the unique development potential of Comcentre will significantly enhance its value in a vicinity where Grade-A office developments are in short supply. We strive to optimise the capital we can unlock from existing assets to fund our growth initiatives including 5G and the regional expansion of our data centre business. We will continue to seek out opportunities to crystallise value from our extensive portfolio of assets,” says Singtel’s group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon. — Felicia Tan
Cover photo: Bloomberg
